Alpine Marmot

Mammal

It spends up to 6 months a year in hibernation

The alpine marmot is a plantigrade mammal found in mountainous areas between 800 and 3,000 meters above sea level. This particular marmot is known as the alpine marmot, though it also lives in the Pyrenees and Carpathians. Other marmot species are found in North America and Central Asia. Its stocky body is around 50 cm in length, and it has short legs with powerful claws, which help it to dig long burrows to protect itself from predators such as eagles and foxes. It spends up to 6 months a year in hibernation during the cold Alpine winters. Its ideal habitat is open meadows that are soft and easy to dig and scattered with rocky outcrops to act as lookout points. At the first hint of danger, groundhogs whistle and bark to warn each other to take cover in their burrows. In summer they feed on grasses, seeds, worms and insects in order to accumulate the body fat that they need for their long hibernation.

In Pairi Daiza