As an “ethical photographer,” Catherine Babault is not as concerned about getting the shot as she is with raising awareness about wildlife conservation and habitat protection.
She practices what she preaches each time she sets foot in the mountains of Vancouver Island, home to the only endemic mammal species to B.C. — the Vancouver Island marmot.
Babault, a professional nature and wildlife photographer who lives in Courtenay, has published a book about Canada’s most endangered mammal. Vancouver Island Marmot, The World’s Rarest Marmot features 89 photos of pups play-fighting, adults caring for their young and marmots eating, grooming and keeping an eye out for predators, along with images of their natural habitat.
READ MORE: Island marmots emerging from hibernation with pups in tow
To be released Dec. 21, the book also contains text written by Babault and by experts involved in recovery efforts to save the marmot from extinction, including those from the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation, Vancouver Island University and the Toronto and Calgary zoos. Their goal is to remove the Vancouver Island Marmot from endangered species lists.
Babault hopes to raise awareness through photography. In 2003, only 27 Vancouver Island marmots were estimated to exist in the wild. As of last summer, she said the number has increased to about 250, thanks to breeding-in-captivity programs.
“Sometimes, when I went to photograph them, it was last summer, I would show up very early in the morning, and I had to wait for them to wake up,” she said with a laugh. “So I had the opportunity to see other species while I was there. I saw a grouse with her little chicks at one point, and they are in the book…Sometimes you go for one species and they don’t show up, so you end up taking pictures of other animals.”
READ MORE: Several unique-to-Canada species found in B.C., on Vancouver Island
Babault has been a full-time photographer for about five years. With clients all over the world, she gives photo tours and workshops to tourists, and sells photos to magazines.
She’ll be on the cover of Douglas College’s Event Magazine in January and will have an article about the Vancouver Island marmot published this spring in Nature Sauvage, a Quebec publication.
Babault’s previous book, Vancouver Island Wildlife, a Photo Journey (2020), received a Nautilus Book Award in 2021. Created in the U.S. in 1998, the awards honour books that ‘inspire and connect our lives as individuals, families, communities and global citizens.’
Learn more at catherinebabault.com
READ MORE: Vancouver Island photographer to be featured in Canadian Geographic
Plan your adventures throughout the West Coast at westcoasttraveller.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @thewestcoasttraveller. And for the top West Coast Travel stories of the week delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our weekly Armchair Traveller newsletter!