WAY HAY FOR THE CRYPTO OLYMPICS

According to the Winter Olympics press release three years back:

'Quatchi, Miga and Sumi. These are the names of the three critters who will meet and greet athletes, visitors, and fans in Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Each of the creatures is distinct and special – both in personality and in appearance. One is big, gentle and shy . . . one is small, mischievous and outgoing . . . and one is a natural-born leader with a passion for protecting the environment. All three are mythical creatures with roots in local legend. One is a sasquatch. One is a sea-bear. And one is an animal guardian spirit. They are all, to say the least, unique.'

It is mildly cool, I suppose, that zoomythology and cryptozoology have been brought to the public awareness by this, even if they have made them so unbearably cute and sweet that if they were edible my pancreas would curl up, and crawl out my nostrils in protest. They even added a non-cryptozoological sidekick with a name that sounds like someone vomiting, but we won't criticise them for that.

But as Oliver pointed out, a Polish newspaper has claimed there is a fifth Olympic Mascot. As cryptozoologists, we are not aware of a mythical bear-like creature in Canada. Could it be like the mythical God-Bear of Kamkatcha - possibly a descendant of the long extinct short-faced bear? Or could it be something else entirely? Is there a major cryptozoological cover-up by the Canadian Government?

I believe we need to be told the truth.

(P.S. This makes every bit of lazy copy-editing and/or picture research that I ever did, including what I was sacked from World of Wildlife in 2002 for, pale into insignificance)