Coadaptation of marmots and Mongolian hunters [Co-adaptation marmottes et chasseurs mongols].

Résumé

When hunting marmots, Mongolians wear an unusual costume - white pants, jacket and hat with hare-like ears and a 15-20 cm tassel (daluur) made from a white horse or yak tail - designed to elicit their alarm call. The tradition of shooting mainly calling marmots may be seen as a means of avoiding marmots with the plague. The alarm call response decreases sharply in infected marmot populations (Bibikov, 1967). Meanwhile, Mongolian marmots have adapted somewhat to this hunting method. Although their alarm call response to the daluur remains strong, many flee when they see a man as far as 2-4 km. away (Seredneva, pers. comm.). To understand how this change has influenced the age structure of samples selected by hunters, we studied 1,346 Mongolian marmots from 6 samples (3 daluur, 3 not) using Klevezal-Kleinenberg's (1967) method. The 3 daluur samples differed sharply from the 3 other. Marmots over 4 years old in Khentei and over 5 in Khangai had learned to avoid hunters with daluurs. Thus, the traditional method of hunting marmots harms the population less than other methods and its broader use will promote sustainable use of this vital resource for Mongolia.