Sofia Picks Griffon Vulture as Its Ugly Animal Mascot

Bulgaria's capital Sofia has elected the griffon vulture to become its ugly animal mascot in a first-ever vote held by a city outside of the UK.

The vote comes as part of a campaign run by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.

In Bulgaria and in the Balkans in general, the vulture is critically endangered, and even though couples have been sent to the country for years from Italy and Spain, it was only recently that one was born here.

And Sofia's @UglyAnimal winner is the vulture! #SofiaSciFest

— Lyubov Kostova (@lyubovkostova) May 17, 2015

Five animals "competed" to become the mascot of Sofia represented by five people, each of whom had endorsed one candidacy. In order to run they had to meet only two requirements: to be endangered and to be what most people would perceive as "ugly" - though one could always argue.

The other contenders in the tough race were the European green toad, Lignyoptera Fumidaria (a kind of moth looking like "inflated lice"), the leech, and the greater horseshoe bat. Their pictures are now following:

A number of interesting facts were unveiled to the audience, such as the fact that the rather odd-looking moth could be seen in only a few places across Bulgaria (near Sofia for instance) or that leeches were used by Demi Moore as part of hear beauty secret.

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