Wild Jaguar Named in Tribute to Pollyanna

The Pollyanna Pickering Foundation is very honoured to announce that this stunningly beautiful wild jaguar has been named after Pollyanna in a touching tribute to her memory.

The Brazilian Pantanal is home to the highest density of jaguars in the world. In this region, the non-profit NGO Panthera is working on the Pantanal Jaguar Project – creating one of the world’s largest, intact, protected jaguar corridors – and partnering with local cattle ranchers to establish a model of ranching that is compatible with jaguar conservation. An important part of their work involves monitoring the jaguar population and their prey under long-term research. They also monitor the jaguar observation tourism developing in the region and assist in the creation of good practices to improve the activity, both for jaguars and for the visitors and guides. Once over-hunted, Jaguars were extremely human-adverse, meaning they would run away or hide before even being seen. However in 1973 the jaguar was listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the cost of a jaguar pelt dropped drastically, in turn ending the hunting craze of jaguars. Now, about 40 years later, it is possible to travel to the North Pantanal and observe wild jaguars in their natural habitat during daylight hours, as Pollyanna and Anna-Louise did last year.

The spot pattern on the body and especially the face of a jaguar is comparable to a human fingerprint – no one pattern is the same. This makes it quite easy to identify individuals. The Jaguar Identification Project is building a cohesive database on individual jaguars in the northern Pantanal region. On July 30th – the date which would have been Pollyanna’s 76th birthday – the internationally acclaimed American wildlife photographer Mark Thomas observed and photographed a young female, who had never been seen before by the Jaguar ID project. He was given the opportunity to name the jaguar, and with the approval of Abbie Martin, the head of the project, chose to name her in tribute to Pollyanna, saying “Pollyanna devoted so much to wildlife around this planet, it is only fitting that this beautiful cat bears her name.”

Anna-Louise said “Pollyanna would have been so honoured and moved to know that this magnificent big cat, who roams wild and free in Brazil, has been named after her. Pollyanna absolutely loved the time she spent sketching in the Pantanal and was completely captivated by these most exquisite of cats. It is wonderful to think that observations made of Pollyanna the jaguar by the researchers will help to protect these cats and their habitat long into the future.”

“I feel so honoured to have met Pollyanna. She was a woman of incredible talent and endless good will. Through her efforts and art she has opened the eyes of countless people to the natural world. A true National Treasure. She will be immensely missed.”
Mark Thomas, Wildlife Photographer, USA