Nov 30, 2012
Perilous Future for Rare Marmots
One of the world's most endangered mammals, Vancouver Island marmots live only in subalpine meadows on that island. Last year researchers could find only 62. So serious is their plight that 27 have been taken to captive-breeding programs in Calgary and Toronto zoos. Clear-cut logging is the problem—but only indirectly, says Andrew Bryant, chief scientist of the Marmot Recovery Foundation. "Marmots like to colonize clear-cuts," he explains, "but then after a couple of years the clear-cuts don't provide enough of the right grasses and flowers. Plus the marmots are vulnerable to predators?' Bryant and his team hope to reestablish 400 to 600 marmots on three separate sites.