Fat Marmot Week Helps Save 60-Year Research Project

Scientists studying furry marmots in the Colorado mountains just launched the cutest fundraiser of the year to save six decades of groundbreaking research.

Fat Marmot Week kicked off Monday at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado. Like Alaska's famous Fat Bear Week, people can vote online for their favorite plump marmot as these cat-sized rodents fatten up for their epic winter hibernation.

The contest features celebrity marmots like Stonehenge, who chirps at passing mountain bikers, and Citroen, whose mate leads their matriarchal colony. Some marmots love hanging out in groups of 30 animals, while others prefer the solo life.

"We kind of understand these marmots just by looking at them sometimes, because we can kind of tell who's who just by how they behave," said Katie Adler, a UCLA doctoral student working on the project.

But behind the adorable photos lies serious science. This marmot study has run continuously since 1962, making it one of the world's longest-running observations of individual mammals. That six decades of data lets new researchers jump in and answer complex questions without starting from scratch.

The stakes got higher after a devastating winter. Last year's record-low snowpack left marmot burrows without their insulating blanket of snow, and two-thirds of one population died from the cold. The colony dropped from 160 animals to just 60.

The human-caused climate crisis made that snow drought about 14 times more likely, according to a new study. Scientists at the lab have also observed fewer bees and pollinators, with sagebrush replacing wildflower valleys.

Now federal funding cuts threaten to end the research entirely. UCLA's biology department has already lost one-third of its graduate students to budget constraints.

Why This Inspires

The "marmoteers" (as the researchers affectionately call themselves) aren't giving up. They've gotten creative with fundraising, posting marmot videos to OnlyFans and watching a superfan create a cryptocurrency meme coin in support. Fat Marmot Week represents their most accessible outreach yet.

These fuzzy ground squirrels prepare for winter by doubling their weight to 13 pounds, then lose it all during six months of deep hibernation. Their body temperature drops from human levels to just 41 degrees Fahrenheit, and they breathe only once every minute or two.

The survivors from last winter are thriving now, munching through Colorado's wildflowers and getting delightfully chubby. Voting for the fattest marmot helps ensure scientists can keep protecting them and understanding how climate change affects mountain ecosystems.

Sometimes the best science happens when we fall in love with the animals we're studying.