Razchtchenie, biologiïa i razvedenie v nevole tchernochapotchnogo sourka Marmota camtschatica (Rodentia, Sciuridae) [Répartition, biologie et élevage de la marmotte à tête noire en captivité. Distribution, biology and breeding in captivity of blak-capped marmot, Marmota camtschatica (Rodentia, Sciuridae)].

Résumé

Remoteness and inaccessibility of marmot colonies mostly located in high-elevated alpine and subalpine zones above dwarf pine and alder belts make the study of three subspecies of balck-capped marmot, i.e. the Kamtchatka Marmota camtschatica camtschatica Pall., the Yakut M. c. bungei Kastsch. and the baikal M. c. doppelmayri Bir., extremely difficult. The litterary data on the Kamtchatka subspecies are scanty and give only fragmentary information concerning the biology of this subspecies, whereas the data on the number and population density of marmota inhabiting this territory are completely absent. The evergrowing influence of humn activity (geological and extractiveworks, cattle pasturage, poaching...) results in partial or complete extermination of marmots in some colonies. All this stimulated us to start a thorough study of the Kamtchatka population of black-capped marmot and the study of its breeding in captivity. Altough the paper is based on ecological and biological aspects of the Kamtchatka subspecies, the comparative data on specific features of all three subspecies of black-capped marmot are given.