Current Campaigns

The Pollyanna Pickering Foundation works ceaselessly on behalf of suffering and endangered animals worldwide. Below are just a few of our current campaigns.

Help Care for Polly Bear

When Pollyanna visited China in January 2010 to gather sketch Giant pandas and Amur Tigers for her exhibition ‘Beyond the Great Wall’, she was delighted to take the opportunity to visit a wonderful rescue sanctuary near to the city of Chengdu.

In countries across Asia, thousands of bears live a life of torture on bear farms, so that their bile can be extracted and used in traditional medicine to cure ailments. Bears are confined in cages which vary from agonisingly tiny “crush” cages to larger pens, all of which cause terrible physical and mental suffering.

The Animals Asia Foundation has created a wonderful sanctuary where bears rescued from a life of unmitigated misery can enjoy everything they were denied on the farms.While Pollyanna and Anna-Louise were at the sanctuary news came through of a further 12 bears awaiting rescue from a bile farm in Vietnam where the practise is now illegal.

Pollyanna was delighted to be able to present Animals Asia Founder Jill Robinson with a cheque for £5,200.00 to fund the rescue of one of the bears, and his safe transfer to the foundations’ sister sanctuary in Vietnam. Read the story of the rescue here. We were delighted when Jill asked if they could name the bear after Pollyanna – and we continue to pay for his care in the sanctuary annually.

Click here to Befriend Polly Bear

Help Protect Wild Snow Leopards

Pollyanna was passionate about protecting endangered species in their natural habitat. In her memory, The Foundation has purchased two motion sensor cameras, for the Snow Leopard Trust to use in a vital project to protect one of the world’s most beautiful and endangered big cats.

Due to their small populations, and elusive nature, Snow Leopards are one of the hardest species to study. We still know very little about how many snow leopards there really are, and what parts of their range are particularly good habitats – and as a result, it is difficult to know how well conservation programs are working, and whether efforts are being invested in the right areas.

The most important tool for such a population study are camera traps. These rugged cameras are equipped with heat and motion sensors, and automatically take a picture of any animal that moves in front of them. In the harsh, extreme conditions of the Indian Himalayas a particularly sturdy and long-lasting camera trap is required, and the Foundation has purchased two Reconyx HC500 cameras at a cost of $1000.00 The data provided by ‘Pollyanna’s cameras’ will tell the trust where the hotspots for these cats are – and which areas are in worse shape. This will help the Snow Leopard Foundation decide where to invest most of their energy and resources in the future and have the biggest possible impact for snow leopards!

We hope that the cameras we have purchased in her name will see many of these exquisite leopards as they roam wild in their remote mountain home.

We aim to continue supporting this project by raising funds to provide further cameras and resources for the team on the ground.

Click here to make a donation

Help care for Cheetahs in Ethiopia

In remembrance of what would have been Pollyanna’s 78th birthday, the Born Free Foundation honoured her by naming a rescued cheetah cub in her memory.

It is with the deepest sadness that we have to share the news of our beloved cheetah Pollyanna’s passing at the Ensessa Kotteh sanctuary in Ethiopia. A much-loved cheetah by all who knew her, Pollyanna lived a happy and enriched life with the other members of Born Free’s rescued Cheetah Family, until she gently passed away in her sleep after a short illness.

Pollyanna cheetah was one of two cheetah cubs rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and given a lifetime home at Ensessa Kotteh. They were seized by the Somali State authorities in Ethiopia, at about three months old, having most likely been taken from the wild to meet the demands of the pet trade in the Middle East. Both cubs were undernourished and walking with a slight limp, but after a few weeks of care made an excellent recovery. Sadly cheetahs are fragile cats, and the poor start in life, followed by a bout of Calicivirus in 2021 had left Pollyanna with a weakened immune system. However she had made a strong recovery, and the final update we received from the care team just a few weeks before she passed away described her as being “full of energy, inquisitive, and enjoying her life with the other members of the cheetah family”

We would like to give our grateful thanks to everyone who befriended Pollyanna cheetah, and helped us to to give our beautiful cat the opportunity of a safe and happy life in the beautiful surroundings of Born Free’s sanctuary after such a sad and traumatic beginning. Although we wish with all our hearts that it could have been longer I am sure you will agree that giving her the few years she had was worth it – she did enjoy her life with her brother Coro and she was loved and cared for. .

In memory of Pollyanna cheetah the Pollyanna Pickering Foundation has donated £3000.00 towards improving and maintaining the enclosures for rescued cheetahs at Ensessa Kotteh and will continue to support their work.

Help to Create a Shock Free Zone in Costa Rica

Pollyanna was passionate about protecting endangered species in their natural habitat. We are proud to announce that the 2019 Spirit of the Jaguar exhibition raised £5000.00 to help protect rainforest wildlife in a very specific and immediate way by creating a Shock Free Zone in Costa Rica.

Each year there are more than 3,000 electrocutions of wild animals in Costa Rica. Dozens of mammals such as monkeys, sloths, anteaters, foxes, squirrels, as well as birds and reptiles are electrocuted daily on power lines. Almost all the lines used in Costa Rica for the supply of electric service are aerial and are constructed with conductive materials without insulation. The Shock Free Zone program consists of insulating transformers and electrical lines that are currently without insulation, specifically in the problem areas where the majority of accidents occur.

The Shock Free Zone program is being run by JRC in cooperation with the Costa Rican Electricity Institute and under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment and Energy. The project consists of insulating transformers and electrical lines that are currently without insulation. The Pollyanna Pickering Foundation is proud to be providing the highly specialist materials to insulate ten of the transformers – thereby covering the JRC’s entire goal for the current year!

We are delighted that the Costa Rican Electricity Institute has graciously volunteered to provide professional staff, equipment and specialized vehicles for installation free of charge, thereby maximising the impact of the project’s funding. We are aiming to continue extending the area of the Shock Free Zone.

Past Campaigns

The Pollyanna Pickering Foundation works ceaselessly on behalf of suffering and endangered animals worldwide. Click on the links to see just a few of our past campaigns.

Cheetah Education Programme

Ninety percent of Namibia’s wild cheetah live on farmlands and come into conflict with farmers and livestock and game farming interests. The Foundation has raised US$5,000.00 to fund a specific environmental education program for the farming community.

This has enabled The Cheetah Conservation Fund education team to conduct a weeklong training course for 30 farmers, and extension officers. CCF’s courses are aimed at improving the understanding of farming production principles and systems as well as providing hands-on practical training.

In addition to tackling topics such as cattle husbandry, herd and veld management, disease and vaccination programmes, business principles, inventorying conservancy resources, basic conservation training on sustainable wildlife utilisation and the role and value of predators and predator kill identification as well teaching other ‘predator-friendly’ farming practices.

Over 1000 participants have undergone training at CCF’s Centre, and are one of the most important factors in ensuring the continued survival of cheetahs in the wild. A percentage of all sales at Pollyanna’s 2013 Summer exhibition were donated to this project, as were 50% of all sales of the Limited Edition print ‘Kekay and Her Cubs’ (above)

This painting was inspired by the winning entry in the Wildlife Warriors Tales for Conservation writing competition