Vancouver Island Marmot, Marmota vancouverensis

The Vancouver Island marmot, one of the few mammals unique to Canada, lives only on Vancouver Island. The animal began to evolve 100,000 years ago when low sea levels allowed its ancestors to cross from the mainland to the island. Already few in number, disturbed in its environment, and hunted by man and other predators, the marmot population is on the decline. At present only 50 to 100 survive. The marmot prefers alpine and subalpine areas with steep slopes, rocky debris, and open meadows. It eats leaves, flowers, and fruits, and hibernates approximately eight months of the year. The marmot, painted by Michael Dumas, is depicted emerging from its burrow in a grassy clearing in the mountainous interior of Vancouver Island. These two stamps mark the end of Canada Post's series of eight stamps on Endangered Wildlife. The other six stamps featured the eastern cougar (1977); the peregrine falcon (1978); the soft-shelled turtle and the bowhead whale (1979); and the prairie chicken and the Atlantic whitefish (1980).