Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A Canadian city is taking on a Norwegian city in a battle for the ultimate bragging rights -- the world's tallest moose statue.
Mayor Fraser Tolmie of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, said his own's statue, Mac the Moose, held the record for 31 years, until it was taken in 2015 by a silvery statue erected between Oslo and Trondheim.
The silver statue is less than 12 inches taller than Mac, leading city officials to consider ways of making the statue taller and reclaiming the record.
"Mac the Moose was named after Les McKenzie, who used to be a former city councilor and ... who was my wife's great uncle. So Mac is like family to me," Tolmie told CTV News. "He's like family to everybody of the city of Moose Jaw."
Tolmie said he is working with Tourism Moose Jaw to consider solutions suggested by the public.
"People have talked about putting on a hat, people have talked about putting a hockey stick on, others have said put skates on him," he said. "The most popular suggestion, I would say, is probably giving him bigger antlers -- a bigger rack."
Tolmie said a fundraising campaign is underway to hire an engineer to tackle the problem of making Mac taller.
"Canada's national pride is on the line ... and we can't lose it to Norway over a moose," he said.
