The Vancouver Island marmot naturally occurs only in the high mountains of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia. This particular marmot species is large compared to some other marmots, and most other rodents. Marmots are the largest members of the Sciuridae family, with weights of adults varying from 3 to 7 kg depending on age and time of year.
Vancouver Island marmot
Vancouver Island marmot skull
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,100 km2 (12,400 sq mi) in total area, while 31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi) are of land. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along the west coasts of the Americas.
Terra satellite image of Vancouver Island, 2003
A Kwakwakaʼwakw wedding ceremony in 1914
Dionisio Alcalá Galiano was the first European to circumnavigate Vancouver Island
The Great Seal of the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies was designed by Benjamin Wyon, Chief Engraver of Her Majesty's Seals, c. 1849. The symbolic badge he designed was the basis for the flag of Vancouver Island, which is still unofficially flown today.