Montana hikers stunned as incredible photo shows ultra-rare beast posing for the camera: ‘That’s once-in-a-lifetime’

A mysterious beast roaming a Montana campground has piqued the curiosity of thousands of Reddit users.

On a page aimed at helping people identify animals spotted in the wild, a user, Gyrtohorea, shared three photos of an extremely rare mammal.

He wrote: ‘This man just walked up to our cooking area while camping in Montana, what could be going on?’

The photos show a black, furry animal with a bear-like face and a long, bushy tail running around its campsite. In one shot, the animal looked straight into the camera as if posing.

Commentators quickly identified the animal as a wolverine, which was placed on the endangered species list in 2023.

Commentators quickly identified the animal as a wolverine, which was placed on the endangered species list in 2023

Among the 1,600 comments, one user wrote: ‘Holy shit, that’s a Wolverine. They’re incredibly good at not being seen by people – truly a once in a lifetime thing. Congrats!’

Someone else joked, “That’s a Hugh Jackman,” referring to the iconic superhero Wolverine.

Following all the interest in his post, the hiker later explained that he had seen the wolverine while hiking with his wife to Cracker Lake in Glacier National Park in September 2017.

He described the encounter as follows: ‘It was the first or second night that the wind was howling very hard around the gorge we were in. The air was full of smoke and we were quietly cooking our food in the designated area. Then my wife turned around and saw this man about ten feet away from us.

‘When I stood up in surprise, the animal raised itself slightly on its hind legs, but when I looked for my camera, it ran away.’

Regina Domingo, a conservationist and wildlife expert, confirmed the species with Newsweek.

Domingo said wolverines are also called carcajous. They may look like small bears, but they are technically large members of the weasel family.

The hiker later explained that he had seen the wolverine while hiking with his wife to Cracker Lake in Glacier National Park in September 2017

The Reddit poster wrote: ‘This guy walked right into our cooking area while camping in Montana, what could it be?’

Wolverines resemble small bears, but are actually the largest member of the weasel family

They weigh about 18 kilos and are anything but shy. There are reports of the animals fighting wolves for food.

If left alone, they generally pose no danger to humans.

The page moderator commented on the post: ‘Wolverines are not aggressive towards humans at all. Attacks are so incredibly rare that there has never been a single case of a wolverine attacking a human.

‘Mother wolves would rather run away from people than defend their young.’

The chances of hikers encountering wolverines in the wild are extremely small.

According to Conservation Northwest, there are fewer than 300 wolverines in the lower 48 states of America. The global population is unknown.

Wolverines prefer cold temperatures and are typically found in states such as Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Oregon, according to AZ AnimalsThey also live in Canada and Russia.

They are circumpolar animals, meaning they live in the mountains of northern regions around the world.

Wolverines once occurred in the Sierra Nevada of California and Utah, but these populations were wiped out by trapping in the 1920s.

The extremely rare creature shares a name with Hugh Jackman’s iconic Wolverine character

Experts fear that climate change could threaten the survival of wolverines.

According to the Defenders of Wildlife website, they have adapted to environments with “deep snow.”

According to the National Wildlife Federation, climate change is the main reason wolverines are threatened with extinction.