The Calgary Zoo has achieved a significant wildlife conservation milestone this summer and for the first time, the endangered Vancouver Island Marmots have been successfully bred at the Archibald Biodiversity Centre which is located southeast of Strathmore. 

Vancouver Island Marmots are a species endemic to a small region on Vancouver Island, meaning this is where they most commonly live. They are a critically endangered species in Canada and one of the rarest species in Canada. They are a part of the rodent family and 3-7 kilograms as an adult. 

Since the marmots are an endangered species Animal Care Specialist at the Archibald Biodiversity Center Michelle Benzen explains what some of the leading causes of their decline are. 

"They're quite vulnerable to stochastic environmental effects. We've seen an increase in predators and when you could have a heavier snowfall, a harsher winter could decrease survivability in hibernation causing a small population size and then you can see an increase in predator activity."

A stochastic environmental effect is when there is a drastic shift in the environment. These effects can happen quite rapidly.

Six pairs of marmot pups were successfully born at the Archibald Biodiversity Centre making the total number of pups 17. 

"For us to be able to produce 17 pups is fantastic, it is one of our best sessions ever. We started with the marmot breeding program in 1998 I believe, and so the initial intake of the program was bringing in some of those wild marmots into captivity to start a captive breeding program. The idea of the captive breeding program is that it's a genetic safe hold."

When breeding the Marmots in the program, some of them will be released back into the wild and some of them will be maintained in the program so that the genetic diversity in the program can be sustained. 

"In captivity or at a particular facility, there are also some other things to maintain that genetic diversity. Sometimes we need to change our pairings, so it can take pairs. Pairs don't always reproduce right away. Some pairs are less successful than others, so it is all depending on our pairings. Just depending on some of those factors can affect how many pups and success."

Benzen explains that there is no set number of how many pups they will be expected to produce, it is just a year-by-year thing. There isn't very much that can be done to stop the Vancouver Island Marmot from being extinct but there are certain measures that are being taken in an effort of that not happening. 

"We're working with the Vancouver Island Marmot recovery program, there's the Tony Barrett, Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Center and then also the Toronto Zoo is that is partnered with this program with the Wilder Institute, Calgary Zoo and the biggest thing that is helping the population is the captive breeding programs that these institutes are doing." 

To learn more about the type of work that the Archibald Biodiversity Centre is doing visit wilderinstitute.org/.

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