Marmots, the chubby ground-dwelling squirrels, are attracting attention on OnlyFans thanks to a creative fundraising campaign for wildlife research.
The unusual campaign was launched by Colorado-based biologist Dr Daniel Blumstein, who leads a long-running scientific study of marmots. He turned to the platform after growing concerned about the research project’s financial future following cuts to federal university funding.
Blumstein told the BBC that he recently created an OnlyFans account, a platform best known for sexually explicit content, to share what he called “uncensored marmot content” in “an act of desperation”.
The videos are entirely family-friendly, showing yellow-bellied marmots running through their habitat and emerging from underground burrows. So far, the content has raised more than $5,000 (£3,712).
After OnlyFans takes its share, the UCLA-affiliated Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado is expected to receive around $4,000 to support its work.
The Marmot Project has operated for more than 60 years, making it the second-longest-running study of individually identified mammals in the world, behind Jane Goodall’s chimpanzee research in Tanzania.
Researchers study the yellow-bellied marmot, one of 15 recognised marmot species found across the Northern Hemisphere.
Because yellow-bellied marmots are not threatened or endangered, the species provides scientists with valuable insight into the factors that influence wildlife populations and drive changes in their numbers, according to the laboratory.
Blumstein said long-term wildlife studies like the Marmot Project are highly effective, but he has struggled to secure continued federal funding.
Although OnlyFans donations are unlikely to generate enough money to prevent all spending cuts, Blumstein believes the campaign can raise public awareness of marmot research and the importance of long-term ecological studies.
The idea for the OnlyFans account came to Blumstein while he was sitting in a meadow waiting for marmots to emerge from the ground.
He had recently watched the television series Margot’s Got Money Troubles, in which Elle Fanning’s character creates an OnlyFans account to support herself as a single mother.
“Marmots have got money troubles,” he thought. “Maybe we should do something a little risqué.”
Blumstein proposed the idea to his lab students, who came up with the name OnlyMarms. One student then helped him create the account and begin sharing videos of the animals.
Setting up the account initially presented a problem. Blumstein had to upload a photo of his driving licence to verify his identity, but the platform flagged the mismatch between his appearance and the marmot profile picture. A brief email exchange resolved the issue, allowing the team to start posting its family-friendly wildlife videos.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk