Adjustment in flight distance from humans by Marmota marmota

Flight distance is the quantitative measurement of the reactivity and respo nse of an animal to a disturber or predator. Flight distance seems to vary with group size, distance to shelter, and direction of predator approach. W e suggest that other factors may influence flight distance, such as frequen cy of interactions, presence of a dog with the experimenter, presence of pu ps in the family group outside the burrows, time of day, and number of anim als on the home range outside the burrows. We tested these factors on alpin e marmots (Marmota marmota) and bobac marmots (Marmota bobac). Alert and fl ight distances and exit delays are shorter in groups with frequent interact ions and in nonhunted groups (M. marmota). The presence of a dog with the e xperimenter increased alert and flight distances. The presence of pups outs ide the burrows during the experiment caused an increase in alert and fligh t distances and in exit delays. Alert and flight distances decreased during the day. A positive correlation was found between alert and flight distanc es. Alpine marmots emit very few alarm calls in response to the presence of humans. These results correlated with the hypothesis of accommodation of w ildlife to human interactions. Marmots adjust their flight distance, which enables them to maintain certain behaviours in spite of the presence of hum ans.