Marmots

All 8 species of marmots on WAnimals

Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 26 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Where to see them

Did you know…?

• It has the longest tail of any marmot, up to 28 centimetres, almost half its body length.

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• It can hibernate for up to eight months a year, emerging from the burrow only when the snow clears from the alpine meadows.

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• It hibernates as a group, huddled in a sealed chamber, and over those months its body temperature and heart rate fall drastically so as to burn as little of its reserves as possible.

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• Its colonies are highly visible on the Tibetan uplands, where the animals stand up on their hind legs like sentries beside the burrow mouths.

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• Its American nickname, whistle pig, comes from the shrill whistle it gives to warn other groundhogs of danger.

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• It eats grasses, leaves, flowers and soft stems, along with crops such as clover and alfalfa.

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• It lives in low-lying woodland, fields, grassland and hedgerows of eastern and central North America.

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• It can hibernate for up to six months a year, dropping its body temperature and its heart rate to only a few beats a minute.

Ecosystems