This month, three Vancouver Island marmots under our care at the Archibald Biodiversity Centre (ABC) are entering a new chapter. Fiona, Cheri, and Keats have travelled alongside this year’s cohort of pups to the Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre on Vancouver Island, where they will retire and continue to reside.
As we say goodbye, we’re taking some time to reflect on our years with Fiona, Cheri, and Keats, and to share some of our favourite memories from the Animal Care, Health & Welfare technicians who looked after them daily.
Fiona
Fiona, age 10, was born in the wild in 2016 and transferred to the ABC from the Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre on Vancouver Island. Over the years she has been paired with several partners, including Keats, and most recently Proudfoot, though she has not had a successful litter.
In 2021, Fiona faced significant health challenges that required surgery and specialized care. Since then, the Animal Care, Health & Welfare team has continued to closely monitor her health and provide individualized care.
Cannice, an Animal Care Technician who has worked closely with Fiona throughout her time at the ABC, shared some memories of working with her:
“Fiona is a fiercely independent, strong and beautiful marmot. Over the past few years working with her, I’ve watched her grow stronger every day. From the little marmot who struggled to keep weight on and survive hibernation in 2021, she’s now thriving and in the best health of her life at 10 years old.
Training her to climb onto a scale voluntarily every two weeks, monitoring her consumption of her beloved peanut butter and leafeater biscuit mashballs twice daily in summer, and watching closely over her hibernation each winter, I’ve spent an enormous amount of time with her one-on-one, and built a strong bond through it. She’s feisty, confident and bold, and her behaviour makes me laugh every day.
As a wild-born marmot, her genetics would have been valuable to the breeding program, but even without offspring, her contribution as an ambassador has been huge. Her outgoing nature has let countless ABC visitors see a Vancouver Island marmot up close and watch her personality shine. One of my favourite memories is when a KSPS (PBS) camera crew visited to film our marmots and every one of them hid underground except Fiona, who ended up the star of the segment, filmed close up eating her mashball (~2:22-2:26 and ~5:18-5:20).I’ll miss her scratching at the door when she hears us coming, hungry as always, and her adorable face. It’s heartwarming knowing she’s heading home to Vancouver Island, to live out her days cared for at the Tony Barrett Mt. Washington Marmot Recovery Centre. I hope to visit her again someday.”
Cheri
Cheri, age 10, was born in the wild in 2016 and transferred to the ABC from the Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre that same year. Since joining the conservation breeding program, she has played an important role in the recovery of her species, raising several successful litters with previous mates between 2019 and 2023.
In 2025, Cheri and Keats welcomed their first successful litter together, a single pup. The pup represents Keats’ first genetic contribution to the population, making this pairing an important step in maintaining genetic diversity within the conservation breeding program. The pup will remain in the program and will hopefully one day contribute to the recovery of wild populations.
Caitlin, Animal Care Manager at the Archibald Biodiversity Centre, shared some fond memories of Cheri:
“In 2016, the Wilder Institute’s Wildlife Conservation Centre (WCC) welcomed 6 wild-caught marmots from Vancouver Island. These wild marmots were brought into human care by the Marmot Recovery Foundation to bolster the conservation breeding program. Included in this wild cohort was Cheri, a wild marmot pup from the Mount McQuillan colony.
From the very beginning, Cheri was a loud personality, almost always the first to alarm call in the presence of real (or perceived) danger. She was fiercely defensive of her nestbox, a responsibility she took extra seriously when guarding her pups. In 2017, Cheri was selected as one of the marmots to participate in the anti-predator trials, where taxidermy mounts were presented to marmots to determine their behavioral response to a perceived threat. Trial marmots were all given the choice to participate or not, and Cheri stubbornly refused to participate on all occasions. She was subsequently removed from the trials and spent the trial time in her indoor habitat munching on carrots.
I will miss Cheri’s calls to her marmot neighbours and wish her all the best in her retirement on Vancouver Island!“
Keats
Keats, age 9, was born under our care in 2017 and transferred to the Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre before returning to the ABC in 2021. After settling back into the conservation breeding program, he was paired with Fiona during the 2022 hibernation season, though the pair did not produce pups. In 2025, Keats was paired with Cheri, and the pair welcomed their first pup together. The successful pairing marked an important milestone for Keats, as the pup represents his first genetic contribution to the conservation breeding population. With this important contribution to the next generation, Keats will now retire from the program and enjoy a new chapter.
Michelle, Animal Care Supervisor – Archibald Biodiversity Centre, shared this about Keats:
“Keats was born at the WCC in 2017 and has spent his entire life at the Wilder Institute. He was one of the very first marmots transferred from our former site to the ABC in fall 2022; immediately demonstrating his natural capacity for digging in the new outdoor habitats that provide below ground space for the marmots to utilize and explore.
Over his time with us, he spent many years paired with our female Fiona, who has required special attention from our team. During this time, the team and Keats grew quite accustomed to each other; he isn’t overly bold or shy like most marmots but has a curious and gentle nature. He is usually out and about and close by when the team is servicing his habitat, waiting for carrots or relaxing in the sun or his nestbox.
In 2025, I was lucky enough to discover the one and only pup sired by Keats with his partner Cheri, a male named Beau, who has since been retained in the breeding population at the Tony Barrett Mt. Washington Marmot Recovery Centre. It was exciting to see him become a Dad and know that he has contributed to the next generation of marmots.”
Fiona, Cheri, and Keats have each played a different role in the Vancouver Island marmot conservation breeding program, from raising pups to serving as an ambassador for the species at the ABC. As they settle into their new home on Vancouver Island, we’re grateful for the time they’ve spent with our team and for everything they’ve helped us learn about caring for this endangered species. There, each marmot will be paired with a different group of this year’s pups, taking on the role of a senior marmot, sometimes called a “marmot mentor,” as the pups prepare for their first hibernation.