Imma Perfetto
Cosmos science journalist
Voting closed! We’ll be back in two hours with the result and to open voting for the final 9.
We’ve been scrutineering the votes since voting for the finalists closed on Wednesday and today, we can finally announce the Top 10 finalists in the running to become our inaugural Australian Mammal of the Year!
You’ve got just 22 hours to vote for your favourite, after which we’ll remove the lowest-rated mammal, clear the tallies and start again at the same time tomorrow. Get behind our mammals and give them a shoutout to your friends to get them into the next rounds.
In no particular order, here are our Top 10!
Dingo (Canis dingo or Canis familiaris)
Australia’s charismatic but controversial native dog took out the top spot in the Rock Stars category in a landslide with a whopping 35% of the vote!
Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
Not to be outdone though, the platypus also got a whole lot of love – swimming its way in to the Top 10 as the next highest voted mammal across all of the categories.
Northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus)
In a truly tight race between the Delightful Dasyurids, the northern quoll just managed to pull ahead of the runner up (the eastern quoll) by just 41 votes.
Rakali or Australian water rat (Hydromys chrysogaster)
The wondrous water rat emerged victorious, and without tough competition from the rest of the Rollicking Rodents, carrying a healthy 32% of the votes across the finishing line.
Dugong (Dugong dugon)
Surprising few, the darling dugong remained master of the Marine Mammals with 37% of the vote – well ahead of runner up the Australian fur seal with 13%.
Southern bent-wing bat (Miniopterus orianae bassanii)
An incredible surge of last-minute voting in the Brilliant Bats category saw a surprising switcheroo; the southern bent-wing bat swooping ahead of the spectacled flying-fox and into the Top 10 with 36% of the votes.
Gilbert’s Potoroo (Potorous gilbertii)
This beautiful little fungus eater hopped to the top of the Marvellous Macropods and stayed there with a quarter of all the votes, pipping the Quokka at the post.
Mountain pygmy possum (Burramys parvus)
Though neck and neck for most of the race, the mountain pygmy possum (24%) ultimately pulled ahead of the sugar glider (18%) – climbing its way to the top of the Hello Possums category and into the running for Mammal of the Year.
Eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii)
Perhaps the most unexpected takeover of the entire competition, the eastern barred bandicoot secured number 1 position in the Beloved Burrowers category with a quarter of the support after unseating the previously unshakeable greater bilby (19%).
Southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus)
Caught up in that bandicoot bandwagon, the southern brown bandicoot galloped into second position in the Beloved Burrowers, but still managed to receive the second most votes across all of the categories to secure a Top 10 position.
Vote for the 2022 Australian Mammal of the Year
How does voting work?
“But how does voting work?” you may ask. Don’t worry, it’s super simple.
Voting has now opened for the Top 10 (from 12:00pm AEST Monday 15 August) and will be open for 22 hours – closing tomorrow, Tuesday 16 August, at 10:00am AEST.
Then, at 12:00pm AEST we’ll announce the mammal that has received the least votes and has been booted out of the running.
We’ll set the tally back to zero and open up voting for the Top 9 anew.
Each day we’ll whittle away at the list of our most marvellous mammals until the last two left standing are announced on Tuesday 23 August.
With voting open for two days, we’ll finally put the debate to rest (for this year at least) and crown Australia’s Mammal of the Year on Thursday 25 August!
Vote for your pick in the Top 10 here:
Think hard about your choice because you can only vote once per round!