Predator discrimination in captive Vancouver Island Marmots. Sposobnosti opoznavaniïa khichtchnikov ou virachtchennikh v nevole vankouverskikh sourkov. [Reconnaissance des prédateurs chez les marmottes de l’île de Vancouver].

Résumé

Fewer than 35 Vancouver Island marmots (Marmota vancouverensis) remain in the wild and captive breeding program has begun. Predation has been implicated in the initial population decline and in the loss of 4 of 13 reintroduced marmots. To identify whether predator discrimination abilities are lost in captivity, we presented wild-caught and captive born marmots with taxidermic mounts of predators (a cougar Felis concolor and wolf Canis lupus) together with control stimuli (marmot, domestic goat Capra aegagrus (=hircus), the cart on which all stimuli were presented, and a « blank » no-stimulus control. Because overall « personality » may be associated with response to predators, we also conducted a mirror-image stimulus (MIS) presentation experiment where marmots were video-recorded with or without the presence of a wolf. Marmots discriminated among these stimuli, responding the most to the wolf and cougar. The MIS results suggest that marmots varied along a continuum of reactivity. The amount of reactivity was unaffected by the presence of a wolf, and was correlated with our highest level of responsiveness (vigilance at the burrow and time within burrow) to the wolf. Taken together, we conclude that marmots differentiate predators from non-predators and that this ability has not been lost under the conditions that they have been reared.