The compound called salicin comes from the bark of the willow tree and it is the active ingredient of the pain reliever called 'aspirin'.
It's cute! It's Canadian! It's a marmot!
It's cute! It's Canadian! It's a marmot! Andrew Bryant is on a mission to change the image
of the marmot. He believes that the only way to save the
disappearing Vancouver Island marmot is to make it famous and to
make people love it. The marmot is an incredibly rare woodchuck
which is chocolate brown with a white muzzle. So far Bryant has
been successful in his endeavour and has developed a web site at
http://www.islandnet.com/~marmot. He has also put together an
Adopt-a-Marmot program where people can pay $100 and will then
receive pictures of their "adopted marmot", along with a
newsletter. More than 95 per cent of the surviving marmots live on
land owned by logging companies and it is clear-cut logging that is
the main cause of the marmot's decline. Marmots cannot live well in
clear-cut areas. They usually live on the summits of mountains, but
their attraction to clear-cut areas is the main reason that the
number of marmots has fallen so low. Many environmentalists have
questioned the sincerity of timber giant MacMillan Bloedel's
commitment to protecting the marmot's habitat and saving the
species. Bryant says sadly that traditional sources of money such
as governments and universities are no longer available to research
and that Canadian endangered species laws are too lenient. He
believes that the only way to save the marmot is to turn it into
Canada's "panda". Marmots live in family colonies of about 5 adults
and 3 to 4 pups. As a survival mechanism, the marmots have learned
to travel from mountain to mountain and each year several of the
young from each colony leave and move to another mountain. The
problem is that the clear-cut areas confuse the marmots into
thinking that they have reached their destination, which is really
the alpine meadows of another mountain. Around 95 per cent of the
marmot population has now settled within a 150 square kilometer
area on land which is owned by Macmillan Bloedel and Timberwest.
Once the marmots are all located in one area like this, they became
easy prey for cougars, bald eagles and wolves. Bryant's aim is to
start a captive breeding program with the help of Macmillan
Bloedel, and to reintroduce the species to Vancouver Island's Mount
Washington. 10 AUGUST 1999
Cool Articles
