The Vancouver Island marmot lives in mountain meadows on Canada's Vancouver Island. It has brown fur with white patches and hibernates underground.
Its brown fur has white patches on the nose, chin, forehead and chest.
Researchers reviewed Vancouver Island marmot breeding records from four facilities between 2000 and 2021. Among 379 pairings in which both animals had previously been fertile, 53% weaned a litter. Younger males had higher odds of success, and females that weaned a litter in the previous year were more likely to succeed again.
The paper places captive breeding within a wider recovery effort, but a litter raised in care is not the same as survival after release. Managers must also preserve genetic diversity when choosing pairs, which limits age- or familiarity-based decisions. Established pairs and pairs that weaned pups had lower stress-hormone levels in feces, though the study cannot explain the association. The study informs captive management; it does not measure wild population growth.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In captive records from 2000–2021, 53% of pairings where both animals were known to be fertile weaned a litter. Male age and a female’s previous-year reproductive success were associated with outcomes, alongside the need to maintain genetic diversity when selecting pairs. This was a study of captive reproduction, not post-release survival or growth of the wild population. Captive and wild results should therefore be tracked separately. A current formal status is not provided here.