Shrinking Snow Cover in Italian Alps Threatens Marmot Survival
Milan, Italy – As the 2026 Winter Olympics approaches, marmots Tina and Milo, the official mascots for the event, are ubiquitous. However, their real-life counterparts in the Italian Alps face a grim reality due to climate change.
The Marmot: A Small, Elusive Animal
Marco Granata, a doctoral candidate at the University of Turin, is currently the only researcher in Italy studying these mountain-dwelling creatures, including those in the Italian Alps where the world’s eyes will soon turn for the upcoming Winter Olympics.
“The marmot is like a wild ghost,” Granata explains to AFP. “It’s a small, shy creature that risks disappearing from entire mountain ranges.”
Granata highlights the marmot’s unique ability to change its coat color as a “superpower” that has enabled its survival for thousands of years. However, this very adaptation is now causing problems as the marmot’s winter white coat makes it increasingly visible and vulnerable due to shrinking snow cover.
Shrinking Snow Cover and Its Impact
A study published in December 2024 in the International Journal of Climatology revealed that snow cover in the Italian Alps has decreased by half over the past century.
Without the camouflage provided by snow, white marmots become easy prey for predators like buzzards, owls, or foxes. Moreover, as they climb higher in search of snow, they face food scarcity since rodents and other small creatures they prey on remain in lower altitudes.
Ski slopes further disrupt the marmot’s habitat, as they tend to be located in areas with more snow. Granata’s research predicts a 40% reduction in marmot habitat by the year 2100.
Historical Threats and Current Conservation Status
Historically, marmots were hunted for their white pelts, which adorned royal ceremonial garments. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest environmental network, last mentioned marmots in 2015 as a “least concern” species on a list of potentially threatened species.
However, Granata argues that this classification is outdated and hopes his research will lead to the marmot’s protection.
“An Invisible World”
Granata spends each autumn traversing western Italian Alps, setting up camera traps to study the marmot’s seasonal behaviors. He emphasizes understanding the marmot’s perspective when positioning these traps in areas where the curious mammal might forage.
As snow melts, Granata retrieves the data and analyzes images, photos, and videos from the winter season. “It’s like unwrapping a present; you don’t know what’s inside until you open it,” he describes. “You discover an invisible world.”
In a video from August, a brown-furred marmot energetically twists, sniffs, and jumps while exploring one of the camera boxes.
Following the selection of marmots as mascots for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, Granata requested financial support from Milan Cortina 2026 organizers for his university research. He recently received a letter denying this request, which he considers “a missed opportunity.”
A Plea for Marmot Conservation
Granata stresses that marmots are not just “cute little mountain creatures” but wild animals facing extinction. He urges for their protection, emphasizing that a doctoral candidate being the leading expert on the species highlights the lack of attention it receives.
