The white Kermode is giving the marmot some competition

The Vancouver Island marmot could be extinct by 2010

Two types of marmots and a bear are front runners in the 2010 Olympics' first competition: the choice of a mascot for the event.

Olympic organizers insist the selection of an official mascot is still years away, but that hasn't stopped lobbyists around the province from putting forth their own favourite species as B.C.'s furry face to the world.

Perhaps the most logical mascot is the hoary marmot, an eight-kilogram member of the squirrel family, named for its silvery shoulder hair, but also known as whistler. Perfect. That's how Whistler Mountain ski resort got its name.

There's just one problem. Broadcasters from around the world would have an absolute field day with a "hoary" mascot -- all at Vancouver and Whistler's expense.

"It would give rise to all sorts of ribald humour," B.C. Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo warned good-naturedly in an interview Thursday.

She first proposed the endangered Vancouver Island marmot as a mascot in 1995 while working with Arthur Griffiths to secure Vancouver's domestic Olympics bid.

Although she admits to a certain bias -- "I live in the Comox Valley, so I'm being a bit of a homer" -- Campagnolo argues the Vancouver Island marmot should be the front runner, despite the fact it has never graced the slopes of Whistler.

"I hear that the Kermode bear [a white-phase subspecies of the black bear from the northwest coast] and other things are being considered, and none of them live on Whistler, either. But if one goes to our national symbol [the beaver], also a rodent, the Vancouver Island marmot is the best looking of the breed."

But with only about 100 Vancouver Island marmots in existence, is it wise to back a species that might not even be around for the Olympics, that might exist only in captivity, or -- from a political perspective -- represents wildlife habitat lost to timber cutting?

There certainly is no shortage of hoary marmots, which are protected from hunting in B.C. except by aboriginal people.

Hoary marmots are found in alpine areas all over B.C., making them truly representative of the province. In fact, you'll find more of them in B.C. than in any jurisdiction in North America.

Appointing the hoary marmot as mascot would also help to raise its profile, argues wildlife researcher Tim Karels, who obtained his doctorate at the University of B.C. for his study of the species.

"I was appalled at how little we know about the most widespread alpine mammal in North America. Most people don't even know what it is."

And while the hoary marmot lacks the striking chocolate coat and white nose of its Vancouver Island cousin, it has its own lovable, if less than athletic, attributes. "They're roly-poly, quite chubby and slow," Karels says. "They'll double their mass from spring to fall in order to hibernate for eight or nine months of the year."

Which raises one other issue: The marmots would actually miss the Olympics entirely, asleep in their underground burrows. "Unfortunately, that would be the case," he laughed. "Everyone would be skiing over them."

The same goes for the Kermode, or so-called Spirit Bear, which, while not a true hibernator, spends most of the winter asleep in a snowbound den.