The Ugly Animal Preservation Society began as a science-themed comedy night and devised its mascot campaign to draw attention to 'aesthetically challenged' threatened species. Biologist and TV presenter Simon Watt, president of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, said he hoped the campaign would draw attention to the threats facing these weird and wonderful creatures.
The winner of the campaign for the Ugliest Endangered Animal is the blobfish, a deep-sea fish that inhabits the deep waters off the coasts of mainland Australia and Tasmania, as well as the waters of New Zealand.