{"id":805025,"date":"2026-07-16T05:56:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T05:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/805025\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T05:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T05:56:26","slug":"marmot-mutilation-prompts-calls-for-increased-mac-island-patrols-radio-nl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/805025\/","title":{"rendered":"Marmot mutilation prompts calls for increased Mac Island patrols | Radio NL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Marmot<\/p>\n

Yellow-bellied Marmot, similar to those which make their home on MacArthur Island in Kamloops\/via Love Utah Facebook<\/p>\n

**Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0 Contents of article are graphic in description**<\/p>\n

What had been part of a north Kamloops couple\u2019s regular routine this past Friday would instead become a gruesome display of what people are sometimes capable of doing, and is prompting calls for increased patrols to ensure the wildlife on MacArthur Island is not further targeted.<\/p>\n

Jan Bradley is suggesting better CSO coverage might also be warranted, after she and her husband John \u2014 who are nearly daily fixtures at the Mac Island Disc Golf Course \u2014 would try to get an early round of their favorite sport in, only to discover the remains of a horrific act.<\/p>\n

The couple arrived at around 5:30am to beat the heat on July 10th and began playing their round when Jan Bradley \u2014 in conversation with Radio NL \u2014 says she noticed something red just off the walking path between the first and second tee pads.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tMap showing MacArthur Island and location of the Disc Golf Course on southwestern end\/via Google Maps<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tMap of MacArthur Island Disc Golf Course. Red circle indicates approximate area where skinned marmot was discovered Friday morning\/via Kamloops Disc Golf Association
\n\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked towards it, and I could smell blood,\u201d recalled Bradley. \u201cAs I got closer, I could see it was the body of an animal.\u201d<\/p>\n

That animal would later turn out to be one of the resident marmots which call MacArthur Island home.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I thought maybe a goose, but there was no head\u2026 the grass was wet with blood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

What could have been initially brushed off as a simple case of animal-on-animal predation would turn out to be anything but.<\/p>\n

Bradley says as she was inspecting the remains of the dead animal she had discovered, as her husband went off to check the nearby children\u2019s playground area, located about 60 feet away.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe called me over to the playground and he said, \u2018You need to see this, Jan,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was the head, neck, shoulders, and arms of a marmot. And it was placed in the baby swing at the playground. It was still dripping blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yellow-bellied Marmots, similar to those who call MacArthur Island home\/via BCSPCA<\/p>\n

Bradley says she immediately alerted City of Kamloops Park staff who were arriving for their 6:00 a.m. shift.<\/p>\n

When a staff member came to collect the remains, Bradley says it was then that she noticed the deliberate and disturbing nature of the act.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had been completely skinned. There was no fur,\u201d Bradley explained, noting that she grew up next to a hunter and recognized the precision. \u201cI thought, my goodness, this could be done professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

City staff quickly removed the remains and thoroughly disinfected the playground, which is frequently used by nearby daycare centers.<\/p>\n

Bradley says she gives a lot of credit to the Park staff, who she says were both swift and professional in their response to the traumatic scene.<\/p>\n

She says the RCMP have since opened a file on the incident and are taking it very seriously, working alongside the Conservation Officer Service.<\/p>\n

While MacArthur Island is home to natural predators like coyotes and eagles, Bradley notes this incident was clearly human-caused.<\/p>\n

Admitting that she wouldn\u2019t know what motivated the person responsible, Bradley says she believes the posing of part of the marmot\u2019s remains in the playground\u2019s baby swing was meant to shock those who came into that area.<\/p>\n

Bradley is pleading with the public to be vigilant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to see Parks do walkabouts\u2026 and [for visitors] not to be afraid to approach the City park staff,\u201d Bradley urged. \u201cIf you have a question, flag them down if they\u2019re on their Gators driving around and picking up garbage. Wave to them, call them if there\u2019s a concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Deer crossing Disc Golf course on MacArthur Island\/via unidentified user on Google<\/p>\n

MacArthur Island, designed primarily to serve local sports needs in Kamloops, does contain a fairly diverse ecosystem that includes resident marmots, as well as beavers, deer, owls, and over 20 Western painted turtles.<\/p>\n

While she considers MacArthur Island generally very safe, Bradley notes there have been incidents in the past \u2014 albeit infrequent \u2014 where certain animals such as ducks, crows and marmots have been targeted by air guns.<\/p>\n

For now, Bradley says she hopes that by speaking out on what she and her husband discovered on the Friday that Park-goers will keep their eyes open and help ensure the safety of both the community and the wildlife that call MacArthur Island home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people should leave the animals alone in the park, and they\u2019ll leave you alone,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of the park.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yellow-bellied Marmot, similar to those which make their home on MacArthur Island in Kamloops\/via Love Utah Facebook **Editor\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,43217,43212,43216,43215,43210,44,43211,43213,43214,66,43218,251721,323],"class_list":["post-805025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-inside-politics","tag-interior-news","tag-jim-harrison","tag-kamloops-blazers","tag-local-first-news","tag-news","tag-news-talk","tag-peter-olsen","tag-reimer-road-show","tag-science","tag-shane-woodford","tag-the-interiors-news-talk","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}