Endangered wild Vancouver Island marmot population reaches record high

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The wild population of Vancouver Island marmots has reached a new record high with 427 individuals, quite the climb from the mere 22 found in 2003.

The Marmot Recovery Foundation recently shared the results of last month’s count, showing the population increasing by 46 marmots since November 2024, when the previous record of 381 was established.

“This is a pretty incredible recovery,” said Adam Taylor, Marmot Recovery Foundation’s executive director.

“In the world in the past 30 years there are somewhere between 16 and 18 mammal species where we can say that conservation action has prevented the extinction of that animal and in Canada there is only one, and that is the Vancouver Island marmot. This is a globally significant recovery effort in our backyard, and I think it’s one that Canadians should be proud of.”

The results of this year’s count came as a shock to the foundation’s conservationists, who expected the population to potentially dip. Marmots typically breed once every other year, and since in 2024 the population gave birth to about 108 pups, there was an expectation of a decrease in litters. Instead, the marmots gave birth to an estimated 120.

Taylor said this past season had the benefit of good weather for the species, which meant a snowpack during the winter that insulated the burrows, then melted quickly in the spring to expose vegetation as the marmots were waking from hibernation. Over the summer, the ideal conditions would be for enough moisture to keep the vegetation lush for feeding.

“This year the snowpack during the winter was on the low side of normal but in the normal range and certainly provided some melt-off in the spring for the marmots to feed, and the summer weather … at high elevation there was enough dew and moisture to keep things fresh for the marmots.”

While 120 pups were born and another 41 were released, the overall population only grew by 46, which Taylor said is due to deaths including from predation, mostly by cougars.

“When we talk about mortalities, deaths, there are two things that are important, one of them is proximate cause of death, so what actually kills the marmot, and what is the ultimate cause of death.”

That means that scientists view changing landscapes caused by climate change as a contributing cause of death. Vancouver Island marmots rely on cleared mountain slopes, naturally cleared by avalanches, or human-cleared ski slopes. This gives the marmots a clear sight line – as trees creep in due to the lack of avalanches, they provide cover for predators.

“What we’re seeing is we’re getting less snow so that snow energy is not as effective, then there’s years where there is very little snow and you’ll get a group of trees that establish themselves, and then they have a couple of good growing seasons and then they start to stabilize the snowbank, and that lets more trees establish themselves.”

For 2026, Taylor said another 40 marmots are currently in the conservation breeding program and are planned to be released into the wild population next year, pending spring health checks. Since marmots typically breed only once every two years, he will make the same prediction for 2026 that he made for this year – that there will be a low number of wild births, but maintains he would be happy to be proven wrong for the second year in a row.

“They’ve done fantastic the last couple of years, but man, there has to be a lot of adult female marmots out there that have bred for two years in a row and their ability to recover body condition and breed three years in a row is pretty rare, it doesn’t happen a lot.”

He added that a population of 427 still makes the Vancouver Island marmots one of the rarest mammals on the planet.

“It’s still a critically endangered species and still a long way to go before that species is really secure in the wild.”

People can learn more about the species or donate to the foundation online at marmots.org.

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