Marmot

===The Vancouver Island Marmot is one of 14 marmot species worldwide and one of the most critically endangered mammals in the world. Found only on Vancouver Island in British Columbia they are easily identified by their unique apperance and differ from other marmot species in behaviour, genetics and ecology.===



Sadly, a population estimated to be over 300 animals in the mid-1980s declined to less than 75 animals by 2001, 25 of which were the last remaining in the wild. The mission of the Marmot Recovery Foundation is to rescue the Vancouver Island marmot from extinction and restore a healthy marmot population to their natural island habitat.

The Vancouver Island marmot is an important part of Canada's unique diversity and our most endangered mammal. So endangered their only chance for survival is with our help.

We don't know for sure when the first marmot ancestors arrived on Vancouver Island. One idea is that they came during the Illinoian glacial period, about 100,000 years ago. Another is that marmots appeared most recently, during the Cordilleran glaciation some 10,000 years ago. Sea levels fell during both periods, creating land bridges between the mainland and Vancouver Island. This allowed marmots from the continent to travel to the newly accessible island. Once glaciers melted, sea levels rose again, isolating the island marmots and setting the scene for a new species to evolve.

Over the past 10,00 years following the last ice age, forests slowly grew over the land that was once buried deep beneath the ice. This natural pattern of forest growth put marmots quite literally between a rock and a hard place since they live neither in the forests nor on the rocky mountaintops. Instead, they live in small patches of subalpine meadow, scattered, like tiny islands in a vast sea of unsuitable habitat. There they find the forage they need, deep soil for digging burrows and large boulders to provide convenient lookout spots to watch for predators. Boulders also help marmots control their internal body temperature, you will often see them sunning on them. Boulders are a predictable and necessary feature of marmot habitat. Most natural habitats, therefore, are high in the mountains, above 1000 metres, where summer is short and occasional winter avalanche keep trees from taking root in the small meadow patches.

Vancouver Island marmots are herbivores and require a good variety of plants to eat. They are known to eat well over 50 different species of grasses and wild flowers.

Vancouver Island marmots live in small groups called colonies. The colonies are made up of one or more families consisting of an adult male, one or more adult females and a variable number of sub-adults, yearlings and young-of-the-year. The size and number of families varies between colonies and years, often producing dramatic fluctuations in population size in a given location.