For the first time ever, biologists in Utah have captured a live wolverine

RICH COUNTY, UT. (KABC) -- For the first ever, biologists in Utah have captured a live wolverine.

The elusive animal was spotted last Thursday in Rich County, located northeast of Salt Lake City, when USDA wildlife officials were conducting livestock protection air patrols.

It's estimated to be about 3 to 4 years old and weighs about 28 pounds.

"As they flew along, they looked down, and they saw an animal feeding on a dead sheep, so they got down there, they zoomed in a little closer, and it was a wolverine," said Mark Hadley with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, who spoke with local media about the sighting.

The capture took a lot of planning, according to officials. In the past 40 years, there have only been eight confirmed sightings of wolverines.

Though the wolverines in the area are small, wildlife officials say they are fierce.

"They're a small animal, but they have the ability to take down animals much bigger than they are," Hadley said.

Hadley said the wolverine recently got into a sheep herd in the area, killing or maiming 18 of them. The captured wolverine was fitted with a GPS collar and has since been released.

"Now, with that collar on it, we will know exactly where its moving and when, where during different times of the year it's moving, and how far does it go when it moves," said Hadley.

Biologists hope to learn more about the fierce and secretive wolverine.

"The opportunity to capture and be able to study an animal that we've wanted to know about for a long time, but that's so difficult to capture and get a GPS collar on, so you can track it, it's really cool to have been able to, in some small [way], to have been part of that," Hadley said.