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First release of the season boosts Vancouver Island marmot numbers (www.pqbnews.com)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The wild population of Canada's most endangered mammal, the Vancouver Island marmot, is anticipated to exceed 350 by the end of the summer thanks to the Marmot Recovery Foundation's captive-breeding efforts.

It may not seem like many, but 21 years ago the wild population had dropped to a count of fewer than two dozen.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

One by one, the cages are joined to a removable plywood tunnel that connects to the hutch. If a marmot won’t leave its cage, someone tickles its feet. “They don’t like that very much,” Taylor says. “But some of them are really stubborn and they won’t go in even with the feet tickling. So, you have to take the ultimate irritation measure, which is to blow on their bums … that always seems to convince them.”
Bringing the endangered Vancouver Island marmot back from the brink