Unregulated hunting has placed Mongolia’s Siberian marmots in grave peril:
If the good news in Mongolia is the gradual comeback of the Przewalski wild horses, the disturbing news is the diminishing numbers of other wildlife, under relentless siege by overhunting and excessive trade in skins and other animal products.
A new study of wildlife, one of the country’s most distinctive resources, has revealed alarming declines in most species, especially in the last 15 years. By some estimates, the populations of endangered species - marmots, argali sheep, antelope, red deer, bears, Asiatic wild asses - have plummeted by 50 to 90 percent.
Take a look at the graphic below:
How Mongolians hunt marmots actually is pretty interesting–see here.
(Hat tip to readers)
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re: “How Mongolians hunt marmots actually is pretty interesting”
is this a reference to how Mrs. Marmot courted you?
“The head and insides are removed, then the meat is stuffed back inside along with red-hot stones. It is sealed up again and left to cook from the inside out for two hours. This dish is known as Bodok.”
I knew there was a connection between this site and me.
As a teenager, I found that by whistling, they would stick their heads up out of their burrows to see what was going on. Thus I bagged all of mine with a .22 pistol. Now I feel like a cannibal!
Stay in Seoul where you’re safe, Marmot
http://www.google.com/search?q.....1%E5%9C%92
Nine out of 10 top links are in Chinese when you Google for the name ???… Not the easiest ??, though
This has nothing to do with marmots the burrowing rodents, but since Marmot’s Hole also doubles as the “many things Mongolia” blog for the Korea/Japan-interested blogsophere, I thought I would bring this NPR piece to your attention.
Two years ago, a group of singing herdsmen from Mongolia traveled to Elko, Nevada, for a musical exchange with a group of singing cowboys from the American West. In September, the herdsmen hosted their American counterparts on the Mongolian steppe. Hal Cannon of the Western Folklife Center went along on a road trip to Genghis Khan’s ancient capital of Karakorum.Now, I have never been to Mongolia, nor have I been to isolated northeastern Nevada, but I have seen pictures of both, and I’m guessing the arid valleys amidst tall hills and not-so-tall mountains might make the two places similar, minus the grass in Mongolia. I haven’t listened to the piece yet, but I thought the Marmot might want to hear it.