Body
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — The stoats chosen as mascots for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games face increasing pressure as climate change disrupts the timing of winter snow, leaving the animals vulnerable when their camouflage no longer matches conditions, according to researchers and the AP reporting.
The mascots are named for the two host cities: Tina, the white stoat named for Cortina d’Ampezzo, and Milo, the darker-furred brother named for Milan. The Games’ organizers have described the mascots as part of a broader attempt to welcome visitors and present an “Italian spirit” for the event, with their images appearing on items such as magnets, bags and pins.
In real life, however, scientists say stoats increasingly turn white before snow arrives. That timing problem, researchers say, can make the animals easier for predators to spot—white fur appearing against dirt and rocks rather than a snowy background—because their winter coat does not always line up with the winter landscape.
Marco Granata, a doctoral student who researches stoats at the University of Turin, said organizers are missing a chance to educate the public about the animal behind the mascot. “It’s ironic because everyone now is talking about stoats, looking for stoats, but no one knows about real stoats, mostly because the Olympic committee didn’t inform the population about it,” Granata told the Associated Press.
Granata also pointed to the Olympics’ own framing of stoats, which describes them as naturally curious animals that want to “have fun” and that represent a “contemporary, vibrant and dynamic Italian spirit.” He argued that the narrative does not go far enough given the real-world risks posed by warming temperatures.
Raffaella Paniè, who leads branding for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games and oversaw the mascot’s creation after a crowd-sourced process involving young Italian students, said she does not think discussing climate-change implications falls within the organizing committee’s scope. Paniè told the AP that there were many messaging options and that the committee needed a focus, while emphasizing that the priority was making the mascots friendly so they “come to life” for visitors.
When asked by the AP in Milan on Thursday why there has been little public discussion of stoats and climate change, Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said: “I’m glad you raised it and we should include that in our narrative.” Dubi also said that if the mascot points to a changing environment and can be conveyed to younger generations, organizers should use that message.
Researchers say the problem ties to how stoats molt. L. Scott Mills, an emeritus professor at the University of Montana, said that as climate change shortens winters globally, stoats and roughly 20 other color-changing species are more frequently mismatched because seasonal molting is triggered by shortening day length. Mills said the result is camouflage that can become “the wrong wardrobe” when snow arrives later or not at all.
Mills said stoats are not endangered, but that studies have shown predators attack mismatched decoy weasels more than matching ones, and that owls, hawks, coyotes and foxes hunt for stoats. He said he connected camouflage mismatch to climate change while studying snowshoe hares about 13 years ago, describing it as a “eureka moment.”
Granata said he tracks stoat populations in the Italian Alps, where the animals live at high altitudes. He said hunting for their fur is prohibited in Italy now, but warned that climate change and the shrinking list of places that could host Winter Games pose a larger threat for the species.
Both Granata and Mills suggested there is still potential for adaptation and conservation. Mills said stoats across the Northern Hemisphere may eventually evolve to stay brown year-round if snow disappears, while emphasizing that conservation efforts and emission reductions could help slow warming enough to keep populations from declining too much.