Vancouver Island Nature Tours

Hi. I just got off the phone with Don Doyle, the Provincial wildlife biologist on the board of the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation. And I’m so excited I had to write an entry right away! Don Is a pretty key guy on the board. So his recommendation is very valuable. He says he will recommend to the board that they allow tours of the Vancouver Island Marmots to happen.

To those of you who do not know what a Vancouver Island Marmot is, it’s simply the most endangered mammal in Canada! In 1998, when the Marmot Recovery Foundation was first established, there were only about 70 animals. As of last spring the population is estimated as 160-170 animals in captivity and another 35 marmots in the wild. Only 35! The marmots live near the tops of some of the mountains on Vancouver Island in alpine meadows.

My current plan is to do tours up Mount Moriarty to see them. The hike up the mountain is very steep and strenuous. But it is not a long hike. We can be at the top of the ridge in about an hour- and-a-half. From there, there is some further up and down, but it is not difficult after that. Although Mount Moriarty has the largest colony in the world (8 marmots!), they are not the easiest to see. Still, we can go to the best vantage points and hope for the best. For every tour guest who sees a marmot, Rainbird will make a substantial contribution to the Marmot Recovery Foundation. And we will be able to contribute to the effort by recording out observations to the recovery team.

The next steps are to put a specific proposal together that will be acceptable to the Foundation board and to work out an agreement with the timber company who owns the land where the marmot colony is.

If this goes ahead, Rainbird will be the only nature tour company to offer tours to this remarkably rare creature.

Want to know more about the Vancouver Island Marmot? Here’s a link