Marmot that eluded capture downtown likely a stowaway
Yellow-bellied marmots hitchhiking rides to Vancouver Island in vehicle engine compartments have researchers concerned about the health of endangered marmots that are native to the Island.
The Vancouver Island marmot is considered one of the world’s rarest mammals with only 196 counted last year in alpine regions of the mid-Island. In 2003, their numbers were about 30 as populations teetered on the brink of extinction.
A report Sunday of a marmot emerging from a truck engine compartment at a downtown Victoria construction site and eluding animal control officers has the Marmot Recovery Foundation — a group leading the Vancouver Island marmot’s fledgling recovery — “extremely concerned” about the spread of parasites and diseases that could decimate the population.
Executive director Adam Taylor said yellow-bellied marmots have healthy numbers in Washington, Alberta and mainland British
Columbia, including colonies recently established in Metro Vancouver.
A lone yellow-bellied marmot named Roger has lived among landscaped rocks on the north side of the Empress Hotel since 2008 and was thought to have hitchhiked a ride in a recreational vehicle from Alberta. The marmot involved in Sunday’s incident is believed to be a different animal.
Ian Fraser, manager of Victoria
Control Services, said Sunday’s marmot went into the engine compartment of a truck at the construction site and the vehicle left to an unknown location.
There have been previous sightings. Fraser captured a yellow-bellied marmot in Vic West 10 years ago that had stowed away in the engine compartment of a woman’s car at Tsawwassen ferry terminal.
It was captured and returned to the wild on the mainland.
Officials believe several other marmots have caught rides to the Island over the years with drivers unaware of the secret passengers.
For Taylor, those marmots could carry diseases and parasites against which the Vancouver Island marmot has no immunity.
He is urging people to report marmots so they can be livetrapped and sent back to the mainland.
“All it takes is for someone to step in some feces that has [parasite] eggs and then goes hiking into the habitat of the Island marmots,” Taylor said. “The [Island] marmot has no defence against it. It could decimate a local population. The threat is extraordinary. The Island marmots are very vulnerable to disease.”
He’s urging hikers to venture into the backcountry with clean boots and poles and freshly laundered clothing as a precaution.
Any increase in yellow-bellied marmots could also attract more predators to the Island marmot populations, including golden eagles.
Meanwhile, Vancouver Island marmot colonies appear to have weathered the winter, and the animals are starting to give birth to pups that could strengthen their numbers.
Taylor said alpine colonies in Strathcona Park and the Nanaimo Lakes areas are emerging from hibernation with a healthy survival rate and there are early signs some females have already given birth.
Despite pandemic restrictions, Taylor said research crews with the foundation have been able to make several field trips for observations over the past three weeks.
Researchers are getting close to some colonies and using longrange scopes on others because of access issues and avalanche hazards.
Peak observation times will be in early July, when marmots and their pups emerge from burrows, said Taylor.
“Every year, a few marmots don’t make it through the winter, but this year so far, the survival rate looks pretty high,” Taylor said. “That’s the first benchmark of the year for us. The next is reproduction, and so far we are keeping our fingers crossed.”