The votes are in! Porcupine 'Pachi' revealed as Pan Am 2015 mascot

Earlier today, Pachi the Porcupine was revealed as the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games mascot, in front of thousands of children at the annual Kids CBC Day in Toronto. CBC featured the mascot in action on their Toronto evening news.

Of the six finalists, Pachi was also most-liked by the public, in the online voting contest that gathered over 33,000 votes, according to the official press release. The voting contest results contributed 10% to the final score, along with other criteria including "embodies the spirit and values of the competition" and "has 'strong kid appeal'".

Organizers received 4130 submissions for the mascot, which was narrowed down to 108 in review before selecting the six finalists.

The "Pachi Pals" – Grade 8 students Paige, Fiona, Michelle, and Jenny, from Markham, Ontario, part of the Greater Toronto Area – designed the porcupine as a class project.

Correction (July 20): 33,000 was the number of votes received for all six finalist designs, not just for the winning entry as I initially reported.

In the official bio, Pachi is described as "outgoing and loves to explore new places and meet new friends", and "like other porcupines", has difficulty "seeing objects that are far away". His 41 quills represent the 41 countries participating in the Pan Am games.