A Colorado-based biologist has launched an OnlyFans account featuring footage of marmots to raise money for a long-running scientific field study after federal funding cuts threatened its future. Dr Daniel Blumstein, who leads the study at the UCLA-affiliated Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, said he began posting "uncensored marmot content" in "an act of desperation" once traditional funding sources dried up, though the videos themselves are entirely family-friendly.

The account, dubbed OnlyMarms, has so far generated more than $5,000 (£3,712), of which the lab will keep roughly $4,000 after the platform's cut. The Marmot Project has run for over 60 years, making it the second-longest study of individually identified mammals in the world after Jane Goodall's chimpanzee research, and focuses on the yellow-bellied marmot to help scientists understand population dynamics. Blumstein said the OnlyFans earnings alone won't save the project from spending cuts, but he hopes the exposure will raise wider awareness of its work; the lab has also launched a "Fat Marmot Week" contest, modelled on Fat Bear Week, to run later in August.