Wolverine’s remains are uncovered in Yorkshire Dales cavern
Opening up a new section of a 300-million-year-old limestone cave system to visitors isn’t an easy job when it involves digging out tonnes of mud and rock by hand.
But a team of cave diggers, who are helping extend the show cave at Stump Cross Caverns in the Yorkshire Dales, have already made one remarkable discovery – and hope to make more.
Caver Rowan Worsman was going through buckets of rubble, which had been sent up to her by winch, when she noticed something white. It turned out to be part of the jaw, still containing teeth, of a wolverine, which was roaming the Dales during an Ice Age, some 80,000 years ago.
"It is quite exciting,” said Rowan, a member of Craven Pothole Club. “It’s hard work, you get cold, wet and dirty down there and when you find something like that you think maybe it’s worth it.”
How this wolverine ended up in Stump Cross Cavern is a mystery, although the theory is that it entered the cave system attracted by the smell of decaying wild animals, which had fallen into the natural pit trap.
Wolverines, which are armed with powerful jaws and sharp claws, can be found in some parts of the world today. "It’s the kind of predator that leaps on something and tears it to pieces, and is about the size of a sheep,” said Tom Thompson, who is coordinating the dig. “They’d smell the animals that had fallen into the pit, climb in, consume the animals, then might not be able to get out. The scientific evidence is that they ended up cannibalising each other.
"Then there was a tremendous flood, water pours into the cave and the wolverines are washed into the lowest part and get covered in stalactites and that’s how they were preserved.”
Tom said they wouldn’t normally be allowed to dig as the caverns are a site of special scientific interest, but got permission from Natural England as they are removing spoil from previous digging operations.
So far they’ve dug out 75 tonnes – with another 200 tonnes to go, so a digger will be needed if they are to hit the target of opening the new C Chamber in 2028.
It will be the first new section of the cave opened in 25 years – and another jewel in the Stump Cross crown. Director Oliver Bowerman praised the cavers’ hard graft which will eventually create a 75-metre extension into a “beautifully decorated” cave as well as providing a circular route round the cavern.
"The cavers are explorers, they’ve been digging voluntarily for a long time, and come as far away as Hull and Lancashire. Historically we’ve found wolverines, reindeer, bison, various different Ice Age animals.
"I’d put my life savings on there being a lot more down there. A wolverine in Yorkshire is not something many people know about and it will be a brilliant display piece for us.”