Monkfish on Ice at Fish Market

Britain’s Ugly Animal Preservation Society In Search Of … The World’s Ugliest Animal

Monkfish on Ice at Fish Market
© Kai Hendry

Vagabondish is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Read our disclosure.

Dolphins, pandas, sea turtles. It’s easy to save the cute animals. But what of the world’s ugliest critters?

That’s the very question the Ugly Animal Preservation Society (yes, there is such a thing) is asking. They argue that all of the world’s creatures – from large to small, adorable to heinous – are important to the health of the environment.

The British group, sounding like something that’s just funny-walked out of a Monty Python film, is, it says, dedicated “to raising the profile of some of Mother Nature’s more aesthetically challenged children.”

To the end of saving ugly endangered creatures, reports Wanderlust travel magazine, the Society is in search of a mascot — something nice and slimy, like the jumping slug, or just malformed-looking and squat, like the New Zealand kakapo parrot.

They’re now in the nomination phase for a new mascot, with current frontrunners including the hagfish, the purple pig-nosed frog and the giant Palouse earthworm.

Get the full story via CNN Travel.

Founding Editor

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let's Make Sure You're Human ... * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

Subscribe to Our 'Under the Radar' Newsletter
If you love travel, you're gonna love this!