Forest-steppe marmot

The forest-steppe marmot (Marmota kastschenkoi) is a rodent species of the marmot genus found in south-central Russia. It lives in wooded forest steppe at an altitude of 180-450 m in a relatively small region located directly east of the upper Ob River. It has traditionally been considered a subspecies of the similar, more southerly distributed gray marmot (M. baibacina), but was separated mainly due to different diploid numbers.

Description
Forest-steppe marmots have a head-and-body length of 45-66 cm, and light individuals weigh as little as 3 kg in the spring (after hibernation) and heavy individuals as much as 8.9 kg in the autumn (before hibernation). It hibernates for about 61⁄2 months starting in August or September.

Population
In 2011, it was estimated that the forest-steppe marmot population consisted of about 14,000–16,000 individuals and had been stable over the last several decades, but earlier estimates have been both somewhat above and significantly below this figure.