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A Vancouver Island marmot is back in custody after hitting the trail, most likely looking for love.

Vancouver Island marmots are few and far between, so it鈥檚 no surprise that Camas, a young male originally released last year on Gemini Mountain, southwest of Nanaimo, didn鈥檛 hang around long when he discovered his prospects of finding a mate were slim to none.

At least that鈥檚 a theory Adam Taylor, executive director of the Marmot Recovery Foundation, is working with to to explain why Camas went walkabout.

Camas was bred and raised in captivity at the Calgary Zoo as part of a recovery effort to raise the species鈥� population, which the foundation estimates is about 200.

Marmots are tracked via radio signals emitted from tiny surgically implanted radio transmitters, which within the limitations of the technology, give a sense of the animals鈥� movements. Taylor said after being released on Gemini Mountain, Camas almost immediately headed over to nearby Green Mountain.

鈥淭here he encountered another marmot and he settled down, hibernated there, and we really thought this was going to be his home,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淎nd then, this spring, we were having a really hard time pinning him down 鈥� we couldn鈥檛 figure out why and then, [July 5], we got a report from a fellow in Errington saying I鈥檝e got this marmot in my backyard and sent us a couple of pictures and, sure enough, there鈥檚 this Vancouver Island marmot in their backyard.鈥�

The foundation immediately sent a team which trapped the marmot in a neighbouring backyard, ending a journey that started about May 29, which was the last time researchers had caught a radio signal. Taylor said the foundation team wasn鈥檛 sure the marmot they鈥檇 caught was Camas until they were able to check his ear tags.

鈥淪o, 30-plus kilometres from his home 鈥� that鈥檚 a straight-line distance 鈥� he鈥檇 wandered through the mountains to end up in somebody鈥檚 backyard鈥︹�� Taylor said. 鈥淎s to why he took to roaming, we don鈥檛 have a positive answer for you because I can鈥檛 ask him, but there鈥檚 a pretty decent idea. He鈥檚 a young male and young males often disperse from their natal colonies looking for mates.鈥�

Taylor said if the other marmot on Green Mountain was the same sex or if another adult male had moved into the area and started to mate with the only female there, that would leave Camas with pretty slim prospects for reproducing, so it鈥檚 not surprising that he would move on.

鈥淲hat is surprising is they don鈥檛 get lost more often,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to imagine, Vancouver Island marmots are still phenomenally rare on the landscape. We鈥檝e got a couple hundred of them, total, in the wild and they鈥檙e stretched over this really vast landscape 鈥� living in these small meadows on the tops of mountains 鈥� Camas went the wrong way and just kept going.鈥�

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It鈥檚 also surprising, Taylor said, that the marmot descended to such a low elevation, although it has happened before. Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre students found one on a beach there, while another was found in a rock quarry near Nanaimo.

鈥淚 know 30 kilometres doesn鈥檛 sound like much, but this terrain, these are pretty serious up-and-down mountains, so he covered a lot of ground really fast鈥︹�� Taylor said. 鈥淢armots aren鈥檛 particularly well-adapted to surviving in the forest. Where they can鈥檛 see their predators, they鈥檙e at a real disadvantage and we know that their survival rates are really low, so he鈥檚 certainly a survivor and managed it, but I don鈥檛 know how much longer he would have lasted.鈥�

Taylor said the foundation is incredibly grateful to the people who reported the marmot鈥檚 arrival in their yard. Camas is now at the Tony Barrett Mount Washington Recovery Centre where researchers will keep an eye on him for a while to make certain he鈥檚 healthy before he is re-released later this month.

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chris.bush@nanaimobulletin.com
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