The Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus) is a large burrowing rodent of the squirrel family that lives only in the Olympic Mountains of Washington state, where it occupies sub-alpine and alpine meadows and scree slopes, most of them inside Olympic National Park. Adults are about the size of a domestic cat, with a wide head, small eyes and ears, stubby legs and a bushy tail, and males are noticeably heavier than females. The coat is brown with small pale patches for much of the year and darkens after the first molt of the summer. The animal feeds mainly on meadow plants such as lilies, lupine, buckwheat and sedges, lives in colonies of related families, warns of predators with whistled alarm calls, and hibernates through the winter for roughly eight months. Its main predator today is the coyote. A population decline in the early 2000s later levelled off, and the species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, with state law protecting it from hunting.
Facts
Classification
Population Trend System (Realm) ThreatsClimate Change and Severe Weather 1 Relationship to PeopleEcotourism and Research 1 Living or Extinct Conservation Status Population Estimate Activity Pattern Connections
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Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Olympic marmot (Wikipedia)Distribution and habitatQuote, Distribution and habitat
Olympic marmots are native to the Olympic Mountains in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.
Sources
1. Olympic marmot (Wikipedia)
Lead
The Olympic marmot is rated a species of the least concern on the IUCN Red List.
Lead, diet
The species has a diet consisting mainly of a variety of meadow flora, including dry grasses, which it also uses as bedding in burrows.
Lead, living or extinct
Adults emerge in May and their young in June.
Conservation
this figure increased to around 4,000 from 2007 to 2010, when colonies stabilized and survival rates rose.
Conservation, threats
The species is susceptible to climate change because of their sensitivity to habitat change.
Ecology, Predation
As humans in the Olympic National Park do not hunt the marmot, but simply observe them, they do not pose a threat to them.
Conservation, population estimate
this figure increased to around 4,000 from 2007 to 2010
Distribution and habitat
Olympic marmots are native to the Olympic Mountains in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.
Child Taxon Of: Marmota, Taxonomy
The species now is classified with all other marmots in the genus Marmota.
View the Source2. Animal Diversity Web: Marmota olympus (Animal Diversity Web)
Animal Diversity WebBehavior
Olympic marmots are diurnal, and their activity patterns vary with time of year, time of day, and weather.
Lifespan/Longevity
Olympic marmots generally live between 2 and 6 years in the wild.
Habitat
Olympic marmots primarily occupy sub-alpine and alpine meadows as well as talus slopes.
Conservation Status
Olympic marmots are considered a speices of least concern by the ICUN.
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