NANAIMO — Researchers are getting creative to learn more about how weight impacts the health of the resurgent Vancouver Island marmot population. A pair of Vancouver Island University technicians have been working on weigh scale prototypes over the past two years with the hopes of advancing a potential link between the weight of marmots and their ability to reproduce. Engineering technician Devin Ayotte said their prototype scale successfully recorded the weight of marmots for the first time last summer in the Nanaimo Lakes area, noting an important radio frequency device has since been implanted in their scale …Captive breeding and habitat restoration efforts led by the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation have increased the population to more than 300 from 22 counted in 2003. …Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo is funding the Vancouver Island marmot weigh scale project. Several other partners are involved, including VIU, Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation and Mosaic Forest Management.