Bobak marmot (Marmota bobak; Ukrainian: bobak). A marmot, rodent of the squirrel family, up to 60 cm long and 5–6 kg in weight. At one time the bobak marmot inhabited the whole steppe belt, but since the steppe has been put under cultivation, the bobak marmot has survived only in individual colonies in eastern Ukraine (eg, in Striltsivskyi Steppe in Luhansk oblast). The species is under government protection.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]