Alpine marmot calls for chick: meat consumption in the wild

Abstract

Meat consumption is occasionally reported in sciurids, both in captivity and wild conditions. Due to the scarcity of observations, a detailed analysis of the main causes of this behaviour is lacking. Lack of nutrients and of fresh resources seems to be a major driver of this behaviour, but some observation did not support this hypothesis. Here we report the description of predation and meat consumption of a chick by an alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) in the Gran Paradiso National Park.