Wolverines Reissued: Kaitie Schneider on Reintroducing a Ghost of the Rockies

What happens when you try to bring back a mythic, misunderstood, cold-loving carnivore that most people don’t even know is real?

You get one of the most fascinating conservation stories in the American West. In this episode, Kaitie Schneider of Defenders of Wildlife joins us to talk about the long-awaited reintroduction of Gulo gulo, the wolverine, to Colorado.

Kaitie walks us through the species’ biology, their snow-bound habitat needs, the challenges of reintroduction, and the surprising coalition that came together to support their return. We also get into how storytelling, public education, and even graphic design are part of modern conservation, and why this reintroduction could be a turning point – not just for wolverines, but for how we approach endangered species recovery across the U.S.

You’ll hear:

• Why most people (including Hugh Jackman) have no idea what a wolverine really is
• The surprising origin story of Kaitie’s career in conservation
• What makes wolverines elusive, rare, and hard to recover
• The role of maternal denning habitat, snowpack, and climate in species survival
• Public lands, wilderness, and the promise (and limitations) of protected space
• Building bipartisan support for species reintroduction in Colorado
• How storytelling and science education can shape the next generation of wildlife advocates
• Why we all need to become conservation “multi-tools” in the 21st century

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, or at thewildidea.com.

Resources and mentions from today’s episode:

Want to explore more? Click the links below to learn more.

• Colorado’s Wolverine Reintroduction Bill (signed May 2024)
• Defenders of Wildlife
• M56: The lone male who walked from Grand Teton to Colorado
• The Endangered Species Act 
• Defenders’ summer events

Kaitie Schneider is a conservation biologist with Defenders of Wildlife, working on carnivore recovery, endangered species advocacy, and public outreach—especially in Colorado. She’s a passionate communicator, graphic designer, and educator working to make science accessible and actionable.

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