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1 10 YEARS AT WORK Fall, 2007: A Special Report On The Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Program The Vancouver Island marmot remains on the Endangered Species List as Critically Endangered what have we accomplished and what will the future hold for this uniquely Canadian marmot? Y OU, OUR PUBLIC SUPPORTERS, are partners with us in the recovery of the Vancouver Island marmot. Along with our scientists, animal care specialists, government, and corporate partners -- you’ve said it’s not okay to allow the extinction of this uniquely Canadian animal. As our partners, we want you to know exactly how we’re doing. Species recovery is a difficult journey of hard fought gains and sad losses, and we’re in the early stages of the most important and difficult part of Vancouver Island marmot recovery – reintroduction back to the wild. Some may feel that rescuing a species from extinction by captive breeding is enough - but it’s not. Our goal is to restore a healthy and sustainable population of Vancouver Island marmots to their natural home on the mountains of Vancouver Island. Let’s see how we’re doing. The Marmot Recovery Foundation demonstrates a new approach to species recovery with government, industry and the public sharing costs and responsibilities. Major Partners BC Government, Island Timberlands & Timberwest, Mount Washington Alpine Resort and the Public. Technical Partners Calgary and Toronto zoos and Mountain View Conservation & Breeding Centre 1,276 hectares has been set aside as protected marmot habitat by the forest industry and government. Added to the protected areas of Strathcona Park and Schoen Lake Provincial Park there is suitable habitat to the support recovery goals of three metapopulations on Vancouver Island. 2 The Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Strategy identifies captive breeding and reintroduction as the only chance for increasing the population within a reasonable period of time and preventing extinction - our goal is 400-600 Vancouver Island marmots living in the wild over the next decade. CAPTIVE BREEDING - A GREAT SUCCESS! Between 1997-2004, a total of 55 wild animals were captured and brought into captivity. To date, this captive population has successfully produced 231 pups, including 60 pups born in 2007 (the sixth consecutive year there was record setting reproduction in captivity) and the captive population has increased to 162. Releases began slowly at first because there were so few animals, but we can now anticipate releases of 40-60 marmots per year without compromising the captive population. REINTRODUCTION STRATEGY The Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre was built to provide the key link between the breeding facilities and release to the wild. Situated within natural marmot habitat, the Recovery Centre houses, quarantines and acclimatizes marmots born off-island prior to their release. In 2007 the facility hibernated 73 marmots, had 18 pups born, prepared 37 marmots for release, sent 9 marmots to partner breeding facilities to optimize pairings and received 44 marmots from partner facilities. 3 CAPTIVE RELEASES HELP BUILD WILD POPULATION 1/3 of the wild population is wild-born Releases 2003-2007 2003 – 4, 2004 – 9, 2005 – 15, 2006 – 31, 2007 – 37 Of the 96 marmots released to the wild, 51 are still surviving in the wild. Plus, released marmots successfully bred in the wild resulting in 5 additional litters (14 pups) born in the wild to mixed (wild-born/ captive-born) and captiveborn parents. • Potential breeding pairs on 13 mountains – up from 3 mountains in 2006 PREDATOR MANAGEMENT REMAINS A HIGH PRIORITY Predation is the proximate cause of mortality, accounting for 67% of known marmot fatalities. The main predators are cougars, wolves and golden eagles. We continue to test non-lethal predator management techniques, the most promising being the use of human shepherds, which has shown some success in deterring terrestrial predators (cougars and wolves) but not necessarily the marmot’s chief aerial predator, the golden eagle. We are also testing new release sites, to see if predation rates may be variable from site to site, along with the size and age distribution of release groups in an attempt to improve survival rates in the wild. Hibernation related mortality is the next proximate cause of mortality in released marmots, accounting for 22% of the known fatalities. This is inconsistent with wild populations, prompting tests of supplemental feeding of released animals at some sites. 2008 will see the largest scale release of Vancouver Island marmots to the wild, anticipated at up to 60 animals. A 10% increase in survival rates and continued release of 50 animals per year will result in Vancouver Island marmot population goals being met within 10 years. 4 Progress 2003 - 2007 WILD POPULATION REMAINS AT HIGH RISK We’ve made progress, although the wild population still remains very small and fragmented with only 3 litters born in the wild in 2007 (1 to wild parents, 1 to a wild male and captive-born female, and 1 to captive-born parents). Wild marmots live in an extreme environment and are therefore slow to mature and reproduce. An infusion of captive marmots will build the wild numbers more effectively, that will contribute to a robustness and resiliency of the population, providing they live long enough to reproduce. We’re hopeful larger releases to multiple release sites will provide the respite the wild population needs to reverse the population decline. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED MORE THAN EVER Winning this battle against extinction means increasing the number and sizes of releases each year, which means increased animal management costs as more animals are flown from our partner facilities to the Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre to be quarantined, acclimatized and released. It also means more radio-transmitters and crew will be needed to monitor the released marmots so we know how they’re doing in the wild to make sure they have potential mates and are adjusting well to their new environment. We have tripled the Vancouver Island marmot population now estimated to be approximately 255 animals, in the wild and captivity, and are heading toward our target goal of 400-600 marmots in the wild. It will take several more years – but with your help - we can and will win this battle for survival. We share a common belief that a large part of what defines us as Canadian is our rich natural heritage. I know you won’t stand idly by and allow one of the very few animals uniquely our own to protect to be lost forever. I’m confident you will stay with us and see this recovery through to a successful conclusion. Thank You For Your Support!