- High up between the ski runs at Mount Washington sits a facility for the captive breeding of Vancouver Island marmots, an endangered species.

They hibernate for six or seven months of the year.

So during the wintertime the marmots are inside in their nest boxes, hibernating.

And the building itself is actually completely buried in snow.

I always call it the fortress of solitude.

(chimes) (nature sounds) I was always fascinated with animals.

It was a no-brainer for me that I wanted to be a veterinarian.

Oh I see the guy we want actually.

(uplifting music) Okay, how you doing Tony?

- Good - Good.

He was cooperative, kind of nice to see.

Okay we made it, one minute.

Tail, 18.7.

Neck circumference, 25.0.

I did mixed animal practice.

So dogs and cats and horses and cattle.

So 3.90.

I had an opportunity to volunteer on a bunch of wildlife projects here on Vancouver Island.

Yeah, it just sort of took off from there.

So we'll give her 0.07 Ivermectin.

Okay.

The Vancouver marmot has been on Vancouver Island for thousands of years, and certainly the indications are that it was here prior to the last ice age.

And she's in sternal.

The 1990s the population declined precipitously.

If the program hadn't started this species would almost certainly be extinct by now.

We're actually looking at a population that's about 358 is sort of what we determined last season.

What we've got is an area of cameras and monitors to actually keep track of the marmot.

Every day it's like you can almost watch them growing.

Yeah, it's kind of neat.

It's just endlessly fascinating to be invested in the lives of a species like this.

I think because this is a species in need.

There's a litter of three here, we know that.

And during hibernation, that really becomes a very tight ball of marmots.

So what we try to do is figure out the best genetic pairings and get those marmots together.

But we call it match making.

Their offspring are the candidates for release.

(upbeat music) Looks marmot-y enough to me.

(door shutting) - So it's marmot release day.

So it's the biggest day of the year in the marmot calendar.

- We're gonna have the marmots in the cages.

We're gonna strap them onto our pack frames here and hike them down to a burrow to be released.

And Savita's got some earplugs 'cause they can whistle pretty loud.

- I have no idea.

- There's no way that one person could do this by themselves.

A marmot by itself is not going to be able to survive as well.

Right?

And the thinking is if you have more eyes watching in the colony, it's safer because predators will be detected with greater frequency.

- Oh, there's bear up at the top.

- There's a bear.

- We're kind of like a colony too.

We can see the helicopter now, guys.

You can see it over the horizon.

(helicopter sounds) (upbeat music) - Okay, let's get these marmot in the shade and then we can get them onto to the pack.

(marmot whistling) Down to two.

You got her?

So you guys, when we're heading down the hill be wary of the balance shifting.

If the marmots run from one side to the other it could really throw you off balance a little bit.

And keep voices down to a minimum.

And like, if we're stopping make sure the marmots are in the shade.

Okay.

Right, let's head down the hill.

It's like a whole year long process of getting them to this point.

Working on this is kinda like having your heart slowly pulled outta your chest and you know that they're not all going to survive.

You know, it's kind of like your kid you've watched out for them for their entire lives and then they get to the point of independence and you know that that's a necessary step in their development.

But it doesn't stop you worrying about all the things that are out there in the big, bad world.

- All right.

(marmot whistling) She's just facing the wrong way.

It doesn't feel like a safe spot for her to go into.

So she's stressed out and she's clinging to the bottom of the trap.

She's a captive red marmot so she doesn't know what a burrow looks like.

So she's just in fight or flight mode.

And we've gotta gotta encourage her to get past that and take those few steps.

- I can't really- (marmot whistling) - Can you push her foot back with the pole from your side?

Just so she's not got traction?

- Gosh, she turned around.

Get some peanut butter, and a biscuit.

- That's not bad idea actually.

Get a a long stick of some kind?

- Good.

(marmot whistling) - She's eating it.

- Oh yay.

- So we just secured the trap.

We're gonna leave her for a bit.

Just, she's facing the right way.

So we've just gotta let her do her thing.

(uplifting music) - You know that that marmot is in that huge landscape.

They've never walked on a steep slope before.

They've never walked on Tallis, where, you know it gives way underneath their feet.

Then they've got all these food plants available to 'em as well, that they get natural vegetation but they've never had that abundance.

- It's pretty amazing.

You know, you think about this marmot, that's been inside the burrow for an hour to two hours now, but this is its first time ever in the wild.

So for him to be willing to come out and explore even in just two hours is pretty incredible.

- They are in a whole new world and it's the world that they should be in.

Ken Armitage, he passed away this spring but he is the marmot guru.

People used to ask him, "Well, marmots, what are they good for?"

And his response was, "I don't know, what are you good for?"

You know, we can't live on this planet just by ourselves.

And these species have a right to exist and to get our support too.

Especially if we're having a negative influence on them.

What is the most unique thing about the planet?

It's life.

(uplifting music)