56°

ANCHORAGE - State biologists are worried about the number of wolverines being legally trapped in Chugach State Park.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists say harvest numbers are too high for the population in the state park to be sustainable.

There are an estimated 18 wolverines in the park. Four were trapped last year. Six wolverines were taken the previous winter.

Biologists say that amounts to an average annual harvest rate the past two winters of about 23 percent - three times what is thought to be sustainable.

Biologists have new counting techniques that enabled them to get more accurate numbers on wolverines living in the Chugach Mountains. A mid-April aerial Fish and Game survey estimated 18 wolverines were in the mountainous area between the Knik River and Portage Creek.

That translates to a population density of 12.7 wolverines per 1,000 square miles, similar to wolverine density in more remote parts of Alaska.

Because of the slow reproductive rates of the animals, biologists believe a sustainable harvest rate is 7 percent to 8 percent, or one to two wolverines per season.

Wolverine trapping in the park was approved by the Board of Game. The state agency could recommend that the game board close the short trapping season.