Ottó, the Wolverine, Has Arrived

Our Zoo had had wolverines before, but it was 10 years ago, back in 2015, that we started keeping them again. Of the two animals that arrived at the time, the female, Tuija, came from a Finnish zoo. Her name, meaning “thuja,” reflects her Finnish origins. The male, Igor, who also arrived in 2015, came to us from the Moscow Zoo in Russia.

Last year, the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) wolverine breeding program decided that our old male, Igor, would be moved to another zoo, and in his place, we’d be getting a new, younger male. Igor’s departure took place last year, and he has since become a resident of the Kolmården Zoo in Sweden. In the meantime, the new male wolverine, Ottó, has arrived. He was previously a resident of Bristol Zoo, where he was born on February 19, 2023, making him two years old as of Wednesday. At just two years old, Ottó is still considered quite young, as wolverines usually reach sexual maturity around this time. Since his arrival, Ottó has completed the required quarantine period, and is now on view to the public. The keepers sometimes let him out into the outdoor enclosure, but even when he remains indoors, visitors can still see him, as the India House offers both indoor and outdoor viewing areas.

It might seem surprising that the wolverines live in the India House. The House got its name because of the Indian lions living here. However, the wolverine is not a species native to India. Its homeland is in Europe, Asia, and North America, especially in the chilly northern taigas and tundras where it feels right at home. Wolverines used to live in Hungary too, and their bones have been found in a few places across the country. Today, however, the wolverine is no longer a part of Hungary’s natural fauna.

The wolverine is a notably larger member of the Mustelidae family, with some individuals reaching a weight range of 20-30 kilograms. In addition, while their favourite food is lemmings, they are not afraid to target prey larger than themselves. Wolverines can be quite aggressive, but ours have built up such a good relationship with their keepers that they can even be fed by hand.

There are many interesting facts about wolverines, not only from a scientific perspective but also from a cultural-historical one. In the Middle Ages, wolverines were seen as symbols of greed and gluttony, appearing in almost every bestiary — books that attributed mythical qualities to known animals.

The wolverine has also influenced modern pop culture, as the popular character Wolverine from the X-Men comics and films takes its name from this animal. Interestingly, in the Hungarian version of the X-Men films, they strangely chose to call “Farkas” (Wolf) instead of “Rozsomák” (Wolverine).

Fun fact: one of the characters from the classic Hungarian TV show Szomszédok (which ran from 1987 to 1999) was named “Rozsomák” (Wolverine). Played by Tamás Farkas, the character wasn’t exactly a superhero — he was the kind of snooty and not-so-popular building manager of the famous Lantos Street 8, between the death of Böhm bácsi (József Máriáss) and the arrival of Hegyi Bernát, aka “Kutya úr” (Mr. Dog) (Gellért Raksányi). The episodes in question were first broadcast by Hungarian Television in 1991.