Ulaanbaatar
Marmot re-introduction successfully continues in Khar Yamaat Nature Reserve
Environment
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ WWF-Mongolia
has been in charge of conservation management of Khar Yamaat Nature Reserve
(NR) since 2014. The area is unique that spans territories of Sukhbaatar and
Khentii provinces and local governments and communities are actively involved
in conservation management.
One of the concerns for the NR
was the near extinction of marmot population due to poaching, in particular.
That’s why WWF-Mongolia in cooperation with local stakeholders started marmot
re-introduction in 2019. Currently, a
total of 100 individuals of Marmota Sibirica, which were brought from Khustai
National Park, have been re-introduced in the NR. Prior to this work, field
researchers from National University of Mongolia studied vegetation
compositions of Khar Yamaat NR to scientifically define the most suitable
habitat and a proposal for marmot re-introduction was discussed by local
residents.
Specialists from WWF-Mongolia
and the NR’s rangers have jointly carried out monitoring on location and
breeding success of the re-introduced marmots for the last three years.
According to the monitoring results, the death toll of the marmots
re-introduced was low while the marmots occupied and moved between the burrows
restored by human and newly excavated by themselves. Experts say that it is
possible to continue the marmot re-introduction in the NR in the future because
it provides the suitable habitat for the species and external threat to the
species population has been minimized. The NR’s rangers along with volunteer
rangers will continue the field monitoring on the re-introduced marmots in the
future.
Source:
WWF-Mongolia
