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FOUR MARMOTS – SUCCESSFULLY RE-INTRODUCED INTO THEIR NATURAL WILD HABITAT AS FIRST STEP TO RECOVERY OF WILD POPULATION FROM BRINK OF EXTINCTION

FOUR OF CANADA’S MOST ENDANGERED ANIMALS – THE VANCOUVER ISLAND MARMOT – SUCCESSFULLY RE-INTRODUCED INTO THEIR NATURAL WILD HABITAT AS FIRST STEP TO RECOVERY OF WILD POPULATION FROM BRINK OF EXTINCTION July 3, 2003 Four of Canada’s most endangered animals – the Vancouver Island marmot – have been successfully re-introduced into their natural wild mountain habitat for the first time since the species reached the brink of extinction in the early 1990s, the Marmot Recovery Foundation reported today. Four of just 100 Vancouver Island marmots left in the world were relocated from captivity by helicopter to existing marmot burrows on Green Mountain near Nanaimo overnight Wednesday and scientists from the Foundation who are keeping a 24-hour watch on them say the animals are doing fine. “It’s an enormously exciting and satisfying feeling to be able to help return a species to nature that had almost completely disappeared off the planet,” says Malcolm McAdie, Chief Veterinarian for the Foundation. “We hope that these marmots will be the first of many who return to their mountain alpine homes in the years ahead.” Two of the four marmots were bred and raised in captivity, while the other two were previously removed from the wild to ensure their survival. One of the marmots, named Jack, is actually returning to his former home on Green Mountain after spending a year in a breeding program. Joyce Murray, BC Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection, said the return of marmots to the wild is the result of an excellent partnership initiative between the provincial and federal governments, the forest industry, universities, zoos, a private conservation centre and over 10,000 individual members of the public who have contributed to the Marmot Recovery Foundation. “I’m very impressed with the results that have been achieved with marmot recovery,” said Murray. “This project shows that when we get government, communities, industry and conservation groups working in partnership towards a common goal, we can achieve remarkable results.” McAdie said the Foundation will closely monitor the four marmots returned to the wild and believes they will bond to the site, gain appropriate weight as winter approaches and go into a timely hibernation. The return of four marmots to their natural habitat is the first step to restoring the wild population, which remains at approximately 30 animals, with the remainder in breeding program facilities. For more information contact: Rick Page at 250-882-4308 or Malcolm McAdie at 250 714 5955 or Alex Dabrowski, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection at 250 953-4577 or Viki Wilson, MRF Executive Director at 604-732-4260. Visit www.marmots.org for more information

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