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

A mystery beast roaming a Montana campsite has sparked the curiosity of thousands of Reddit users.

On a page dedicated to helping people identify animals spotted in the wild, one user, Gyrtohorea, shared three pictures of a very rare mammal.

He wrote: 'This guy walked right up to our cooking spot while camping in Montana, what could it be?' 

The photos show a black furry animal with a bear-like face and a long, fluffy tail running near his campsite. In one shot, the animal was looking directly at the camera as if it was posing. 

Commenters were quick to identify the animal as a wolverine, which was listed as an endangered species in 2023.

Among the 1,600 comments, one user wrote: 'Holy s*** that’s a Wolverine. They are incredible at not being seen by people - truly once in a lifetime. Congrats!'

Another person joked 'that's a Hugh Jackman' - alluding to the iconic superhero Wolverine.

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

Describing the encounter, he said: 'Either the first or second night, the wind was absolutely whipping around the canyon we are in, and the air is thick with smoke, and we are quietly cooking our food in the designated food prep area, when my wife turns to her side and sees this guy about 10 feet from us.

'It reared up a little bit on its hind legs when I stood up surprised, then started scampering away when I fumbled for my camera.' 

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

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

They weigh about 40 pounds and are far from timid, with reports of the animals fighting with wolves over food. 

However, if left alone, they typically pose no harm to humans. 

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

'Mother wolverines will run from humans rather than defend their kits.'

The likelihood that hikers will run into wolverines in the wild is extremely low.  

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

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

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

Wolverines used to frequent California's Sierra Nevada and Utah, but trapping in the 1920s killed off those populations.

Experts are concerned that climate change could be detrimental to the survival of wolverines.

They have adapted to 'deep snow' environments, according to the Defenders of Wildlife's website.

The National Wildlife Federation has also named the main reason wolverines are endangered is climate change.