University of Michigan Wolverine, Ann Arbor, MI
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N 42° 17.487 W 083° 42.868
17T E 276214 N 4685704
This wolverine statue is located on the North Campus of the University of Michigan.
Waymark Code: WM988Y
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 07/12/2010
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?The University of Michigan, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an NCAA division 1-A university and member of the Big Ten conference. As early as 1861, Michigan students and alumni began referring to themselves as wolverines, but how the ferocious animal came to be the university mascot remains a mystery.
In 1923, Michigan football coach, Fielding Yost, began a quest to obtain a live wolverine after learning the University of Wisconsin football team carried live badgers. After a letter to over 50 trappers, he could not find a mascot for his team and expanded his search to include any wolverine, dead or alive.
Yost was finally able to obtain a mounted wolverine in the fall of 1924, but his desire for a live one remained. In 1927, the Detroit Zoo obtained ten wolverines. At football games, two of these wolverines were brought into Michigan Stadium and carried around in cages. The wolverines were present at the dedication of Michigan Stadium in 1927.
As the animals grew larger and more ferocious, the practice was abandoned after only one year due to safety concerns. One of the wolverines was returned to the Detroit Zoo and the other was placed in a cage at the University of Michigan Zoo.
Although no live wolverine has been in Michigan Stadium in the last half-century, the university's athletes continue to proudly compete under the symbol of the wolverine.