It’s official: The grey wolf is Canada’s greatest animal.
At least according to the Calgary Zoo, which tallied almost 12,000 votes in a campaign pitting grizzly bear, mountain goat, whooping crane, grey wolf, bison, great grey owl and beaver against each another.
Grey wolf toppled the mighty and noble beaver as the ultimate Canadian critter.
The beaver, by the way, has been Canada’s national animal since 1975.
The zoo’s contest was a bit of a lark.
In it, mountain goat came third followed by grizzly. The category “other” placed fifth, which kind of makes you kind of sad for bison, great grey owl and whooping crane rounded out the competitors.
But the campaign was more than just fun.
It was meant to start a conversation about conservation.
“Since we started our campaign, another 11 animals have been added to Canada’s list of endangered species,” the zoo noted.
Photos Calgary Zoo/Facebook
