Rescued cheetah cub named in tribute to Derbyshire wildlife artist Pollyanna Pickering

The Born Free Foundation, which was launched by film actress Virginia McKenna and had Pollyanna as its patron for many years, has saved two cubs from the illegal wildlife trade.

Pollyanna Pickering, who lived near Matlock, was world renowned for her paintings of endangered species sketched from life. One of the rescued cubs has been named Pollyanna on what would have been the artist’s 78th birthday.

Virginia McKenna said: “Pollyanna first came into our lives 30 years ago. She travelled to India to do a painting of five tigers we had rescued from a travelling circus. We were, from the start, bound by our love and admiration for animals. And it was through her extraordinary talent as a wildlife artist, her loyalty to our charity and our deepening friendship, that our relationship never ended. Her name will live on through Pollyanna, the beautiful little cheetah, and in our hearts.”

Pollyanna’s daughter Anna-Louise, who is president of the Pollyanna Pickering Foundation, said: “There could be no more wonderful and fitting tribute to Pollyanna. She was passionate about conservation and the animals which she painted and always had a special love for cheetahs. Our foundation will fund the care of little Pollyanna cheetah in her new home.”

The cubs were undernourished and walking with a limp when they were seized by Somali state authorities. They are being cared for at the Ensessa Kotteh sanctuary in Ethiopia.