Wolverines inhabit a variety of habitats in the alpine, tundra, taiga, and boreal forest zones (Rauset et al. 2013). They are found in coniferous, mixed, and deciduous woodlands, bogs, and open mountain and tundra habitats. Wolverines have evolved to scavenge from the kills of wild ungulates abandoned by more efficient predators such as Wolves and Lynx (Mattisson et al. 2016), as well as victims of accidents and disease. However, Wolverines also prey on hares, rodents and occasionally animals as large as Moose given certain snow conditions. They can also prey heavily on domestic sheep and semi-domesticated Reindeer. The Wolverine has vast home ranges (Persson et al. 2009a) and good dispersal abilities (Vangen et al. 2001).

Wolverines once occurred throughout the European part of Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and northeastern Poland. During the 19th century, Wolverines disappeared from the southernmost of these areas in Europe mainly due to persecution, but also due to deforestation and other human developments. In Europe, the species is now found in Norway, Sweden, Finland and the European part of Russia. Within these countries, Wolverines are mainly found north of 60ºN. The European Wolverine population is divided into three subpopulations with some dispersal between them, which can be described as follows (Chapron et al. 2014):

1. Scandinavian
The Scandinavian Wolverines are found in mountainous areas along the spine of the Scandinavian peninsula. This includes extensive areas along the border between Sweden and Norway and also extends southwestwards and away from the border in the southern part of Norway. They are also expanding into boreal forest areas in the south as far as and including Dalarna and Värmland County in southern Sweden and Hedmark County in southern Norway. The main body of the population exists in the northern parts of Scandinavia, but the population is expanding southwards. The population extends further to the north within Finnmark County in Norway with an extension into the northwestern parts of Finland (Aronsson and Persson 2017, Höglund and Tovmo 2023, Milleret et al. 2023).

2. Karelian
The Karelian Wolverines are mainly found in central Finland and along the border with Russia. Wolverines are also found scattered all the way to the common borders with Norway and Sweden.

3. European Russia
Wolverines are found in the European part of Russia (west of the Urals) including Russian Karelia and Murmansk oblasts. To the east, along the Urals, the population has a wide distribution from the Barents Sea in the high Arctic and south to approximately 60ºN.

Globally, the Wolverine has a circumpolar distribution across Siberia and North America.

Wolverines are strictly protected by the Bern Convention (Appendix II). In the European Union, the species is covered by the Habitats Directive Annex II, which requires the creation of Natura 2000 sites for the species.

1. Scandinavia
Wolverines are protected in Norway by the Bern Convention. However, Norway manages Wolverine as a de facto game species with annual quotas, set in relation to management objectives. These quotas are either filled by hunters in a specific season, or by state rangers using other means. In Sweden, Wolverines are protected under Annex II of the Habitat Directive. Sweden and Norway provide full compensation for losses/damages, with Sweden using a risk payment system for Reindeer (Zabel et al. 2014, Persson et al. 2015), whereas Norway pays ex post facto for both sheep and Reindeer losses.

The level of lethal control in Sweden is evaluated in relation to favourable conservation status and forecasted every year in an adaptive management framework (Andrén and Persson 2021).

2. Karelian
In Finland, the Wolverine is protected under Annex II and IV of the Habitats Directive. Finland compensates for a combination of documented and estimated losses of reindeer to Wolverines.

3. European Russia
Annual surveys, including for this species, are undertaken at the end of winter in the regions where there is snow cover). It is not known if harvest limits are set.