Marmota himalayana
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana) is a marmot species that inhabits alpine grasslands throughout the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau. It is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern because of its wide range and possibly large population.
Arctomys himalayanus was the scientific name proposed by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1841 who described marmot skins from the Himalayas. In the 19th century, several Himalayan marmot specimens were described and proposed as subspecies. Two genetically distinct subspecies are recognized today:
The Himalayan marmot is very closely related to the Tarbagan marmot (M. sibirica) and somewhat more distantly to the black-capped marmot (M. camtschatica). These three form a species group, with their next nearest relatives being the bobak species group, which includes the bobak marmot (M. bobak) itself, as well as the grey marmot (M. baibacina) and forest-steppe marmot (M. kastschenkoi). In the past, the relatively short-furred and short-tailed marmots of the Palearctic region, i.e. Himalayan, Tarbagan, grey and forest-steppe, were all regarded as subspecies of the bobak... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hemis National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beijing Wildlife Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
No species of the same family or order lives in Hemis National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Himalayan Marmot sighting in Hemis National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 7 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Himalayan Marmot in Hemis National Park on a given day, against about 10% in March, the lowest month. April and October–January have too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Himalayan Marmot sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Hemis National Park, in our data
Hemis National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Himalayan Marmot sightings: about 50% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Himalayan Marmot is recorded against all the mammals logged in Hemis National Park (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
