Alpine marmot in the Tatra Mountains, hibernation and species protection history

A few words about marmots

From last week’s post you learned that marmots are responsible parents. These charming rodents live in the mountains of the entire northern hemisphere, but only in our Tatra Mountains lives the endemic subspecies, the Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota latirostris).

The marmots you can observe at our Tatra Educational Park belong to the Alpine species. Currently, approximately 800 individuals live across the entire Tatra Mountains, but there was a time when Tatra marmots were critically endangered.

The reason for this situation was intensive hunting, mainly to obtain their fat. That marmots carry a layer of fat is plain to see, it is essential for their winter hibernation, which in these animals lasts over half a year.

Marmot hibernation

During hibernation, a marmot’s body temperature drops by over 20 degrees, and both breathing rate and heart rhythm slow dramatically. Every few weeks the marmot wakes for a few hours to urinate, and these periods are when it expends the most energy.

Accumulating enough body fat is essential for surviving the winter. This fact was historically exploited by świszczarze, traditional marmot hunters, who would either pull the animals from their burrows in winter or shoot them in summer. Marmot fat was believed to have medicinal properties and was used both as a body rub and in oral remedies. In the Alps, hunting marmots is still legal and marmot fat ointment remains popular.

The world’s first species protection law

The main benefactor of the Tatra marmots is considered to be Professor Maksymilian Nowicki, who initiated the world’s first species protection law, specifically protecting Tatra animals: marmots and chamois, and banning hunting them.

At the end of the 19th century, only a few dozen marmots remained in the Tatras, and their situation improved very slowly. Poachers roamed the mountains, and during the war marmots fell victim to hunting by deserters seeking food.

Modern threats

Today, the marmot population in the Tatras is relatively stable but still faces numerous threats. Perhaps the greatest is heavy tourist traffic, particularly in winter, with ski touring and skiers passing over the areas where marmots have their burrows… 🤨