# @thetorontozoo on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DVqrYRRFXIL
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/59036752-thetorontozoo-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/e5918486ab.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-03-09T14:21:12.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Toronto Zoo (@thetorontozoo) — https://gondola.cc/thetorontozoo

## Caption

It’s #MarmotMonday 🐾 

Guests travelling through your Toronto Zoo’s Wildlife Health and Science Centre (WHSC) last week had the chance to see Jarli, a six-year-old male Vancouver Island marmot, receiving a health examination. 

Early March is an unusual time for marmot procedures - it is still within their hibernation period, and at a crucial point prior to their spring breeding season. However, Jarli has had an unusual winter. Back in November, when the rest of the marmots were building their nests, losing interest in food, and becoming increasingly sleepy, Jarli remained fully active. His appetite slowed, but he never entered hibernation. As anyone with a restless bedfellow will understand, his continued activity was preventing his mate, Scarlett, from reaching a deep plane of hibernation. Jarli was moved to the WHSC at the start of the year for closer monitoring and to bring peace and quiet to the Marmot Breeding Centre. 

Failure to enter hibernation is usually thought to indicate a health issue. Jarli has had two comprehensive health examinations this winter (in January and March), and he received a clean bill of health during both. These exams represent a rare opportunity to collect important data from a marmot at a time of year when disturbances are generally minimized. This gave us a chance to not only gather health information, but understand the male reproductive cycle in male marmots (whose testes are internalized outside of the breeding season, and descend in advance of breeding). Jarli will remain in the WHSC until the rest of the marmots start emerging from hibernation sometime between late March and mid-April, at which point he will be reintroduced to Scarlett. As to why he never hibernated this winter, it will remain a mystery. 

Did you know? Your Toronto Zoo’s Vancouver Island marmot breeding program began in 1997 as part of a collaborative effort to save one of the world’s most endangered mammals. At the time, the wild population on Vancouver Island had declined to dangerously low numbers, reaching fewer than 30 animals in the early 2000s.

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## Tags

marmotmonday

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