MARMOTS: WAR OF CLANS

Few creatures are cuter than that cuddly, sweet-faced ball of fur, the Alpine marmot. But beneath its adorable exterior lies an unexpectedly ornery little mammal - a creature with a fierce, territorial, and even bloodthirsty streak!

Who would have thought that these sweet bundles of fluff had a penchant for killing each other with teeth - and even stones? Yet this is precisely what unfolds in the breathtaking, though far from peaceful, Alpine landscape where, for thousands of years, marmots have waged a ruthless clan war. Duels, beheadings, infanticide, even adultery… These rodents will stop at nothing to assert their dominance over a burrow and its surrounding territory! But today, with the acceleration of climate change, internecine conflicts are erupting within the clans themselves - threatening the very survival of this iconic Alpine species.

In a protected reserve at the heart of the Vanoise National Park, a team of researchers is closely monitoring the rivalries that have pitted these fierce warriors against each other for generations. Using a network of camera traps to capture their every move, this documentary takes us deep into the secret world of the Alpine marmot - a paradoxical animal, as endearing as it is ferocious - while raising urgent questions about the future of the species in a rapidly changing environment.