Calgary Zoo a key player in reviving wild population of endangered marmots
Rodents threatened by land use get boost from breeding program
Twelve years ago, the population of Vancouver Island Marmots had dwindled to about 40 in the wild, putting them on the list of critically endangered species.
Fast forward to 2016 and the number has grown to approximately 300, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Calgary Zoo, one of two facilities running captive breeding programs and reintroducing the animals into the wild.
Just this past birthing season, four pups were welcomed at the zoo’s Devonian Wildlife Conservation Centre, and are being touted by the zoo as playing “a vital role in the survival of the species.”
The animals will be released next year, joining the 13 pups born last year and released this summer by the Marmot Recovery Foundation, with the goal of continuously driving up the wild population of the rodents.
“This is one of the most dramatic recovery stories of a mammal worldwide, certainly in Canada,” said Axel Moehrenschlager, the zoo’s director of conservation and science, calling the animals a “beautiful and important part of our Canadian heritage, found nowhere else in the world.”
“It’s not to say they are fully recovered, because they are not. But we’ve seen tremendous success so far and everybody is working together.”
Without reintroduction-breeding and science, this species would be extinct, he added.
Moehrenschlager said it’s believed land-use changes, particularly heavy logging operations, may have contributed to their declining numbers, along with poor survival rates during the winter months.
He said collaboration among government agencies, non-government agencies and scientists will hopefully help ensure Vancouver Island Marmot habitats are protected and recovered, and that predator populations are better managed and understood.
“This is the kind of situation where you notice a very rapid decline for a species, and you have to act while still coming to understand what the real problems are,” Moehrenschlager said.
Staff hope the marmots released into Vancouver Island — mostly in the Mount Washington area — this summer will survive the winter, pair up in the spring and continue to increase the population in the wild.
So far, they are all alive and doing well, and will continue to be monitored.
The Calgary Zoo and the Toronto Zoo are the only facilities in Canada that manage captive breeding Vancouver Island Marmot populations.
Calgary has been involved since 1998 and holds about 60 per cent of the captive population, Moehrenschlager said.
Other partners include the British Columbia government and the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program.
Moehrenschlager said workers will follow up on monitoring and use that information about where future release locations should be.
This is one of the most dramatic recovery stories of a mammal worldwide, certainly in Canada.