Mac the Moose may challenged for 'largest moose' title as Quebec town enters the fray

Moose Jaw's claim to having the world's largest moose sculpture may be short-lived.

The Saskatchewan city recently replaced the antlers on Mac the Moose, its giant moose statue, in order to regain the title from a city in Norway.

But now, a town in Quebec has thrown down the gauntlet.

The mayor of Desbiens told the Radio-Canada show C'est jamais pareil that he's proposed building an amusement park in the town that would feature the world's largest moose sculpture.

Mayor Nicolas Martel said the moose would pay tribute to Indigenous people and the area's first settlers, and that it would be a nod to the many hunters in the area.

He envisions a sculpture that could be enlarged any time its claim to being the world's tallest moose statue was challenged.

Contending the title

For 31 years, Moose Jaw's Mac the Moose held the record, with the concrete sculpture standing 9.8 metres (32 feet).

Then in 2015, the Norwegian town of Stor-Elvdal created "Storelgen," a moose statue which was 30 centimetres higher than Mac.

Regina comedy duo Justin Reves and Greg Moore spurred the moose statue competition when they launched a GoFundMe campaign in January 2019, aiming to raise money to help Moose Jaw alter the statue to regain its title.

The campaign raised about $14,000, and Moosehead Breweries also donated $25,000 to the cause.

With his new antlers, added earlier this month, Mac now stands at roughly 10.36 meters (34 feet).

There's no word yet on how big the proposed Desbien moose sculpture would be.

Martel said he hopes to see construction on the amusement park and moose statue begin next spring.

Desbiens is located about 185 kilometres north of Quebec City.