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Fat Marmot Week Invites You To Vote for the “Chonkiest” Hibernator of All

By Emma Taggart on August 26, 2026

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For yellow-bellied marmots in the Rocky Mountains, an ideal “summer bod” means gaining as much weight as possible. The alpine rodents have been busy bulking up in preparation for winter hibernation, when they’ll spend seven to eight months underground in a deep slumber. They’ll survive solely on their own fat reserves until they emerge again in April or May, making them the largest “true hibernators.”

In celebration of the marmot’s yearly weight gain mission, the Marmot Project at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) is hosting Fat Marmot Week, an online event that invites you to vote for the “chonkiest” of all. The contestants for round 2 have just been announced, including a marmot named Dawn who “likes the taste of rocks” and Goblin, aka G, who’s known for his love of running from burrow to burrow.

The Marmot Project began in 1962 as a way to understand how marmots behave, communicate, live socially, and adapt to the changes in their environment. It’s the longest-run research project for mammals after Jane Goodall’s famous chimpanzee research in Tanzania. After funding was recently cut, the researchers raised around $100,000 through an unconventional “OnlyMarms” campaign. Today, the researchers continue to inspire people to care about marmots through initiatives like Fat Marmot Week.

Marmots get fat by gorging on plants, flowers, grasses, and seeds. “This summer the marmots of RMBL will be foraging their hearts out to decide on who will be crowned the fattest of them all, and more importantly who will survive the winter ahead,” says the Marmot Project. “The rules? Simple. The stakes? Enormous.”

You can find out more about the chunky marmot contestants on the Fat Marmot Week website. Voting will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST on August 26. The next round will be held on August 28, 2026. The marmot with the largest estimated weight will be announced on August 29. The winner of the popular vote will be announced on August 30.