The Himalayan marmot Marmota himalyana, Hodgson (1841) in the anthropogenic landscape [La marmotte Himalayenne Marmota himalyana, Hodgson (1841) dans les paysages d'origine anthropique].

Résumé

The field observations we made in Nepal in the regions of Manaslu, Annapurna and Lower Mustang. The conflict of interests of marmots and humans lies in the fact that both use the same relief features for their settlements, largely populating alluvial terraces with thick layer of fine soil. Marmots use the fine soil as substrate in which they dig up their burrows. To humans, alluvial deposits are convenient in that the soils used for farming developed in them. Wide flattened terraces are also convenient for livestock grazing. The major forms of human impact on the marmots are: 1) human settlements and farmlands, which bring about destruction of the habitat and dissection of marmot colonies; 2) livestock grazing; 3) uncontrolled hunting. All the Himalayan marmot colonies are situated on the grazing lands of domestic livestock exposed to grazing digression. The local people use loops to catch marmots. When croplands are abandoned and are not tilled for a long time marmots get back to their original habitats. In the Lower Mustang, we found non-used marmot burrows. The Lower Mustang is the southern edge of a huge colony of marmots with a center in the Upper Mustang on the border of Tibet and Nepal. In Nepal, the marmot is not regarded as rare or endangered species. It would be feasible to monitor marmot numbers in Nepal on a regular basis. Its harvest should be regulated or completely banned.