Cecília is our Unique Wild Animal Personality Award Winner
Cecília and her remarkable personality
Cecília is the first winner of the Wild Animal Unique Personality Award. This award celebrates animals’ personalities, while raising awareness that they should not be objectified and seen as mere commodities. They are all individuals.
Cecília is the first winner of the Wild Animal Unique Personality Award. This award celebrates animals’ personalities, while raising awareness that they should not be objectified and seen as mere commodities. They are all individuals.
Our winner, Cecília, is a young giant anteater who lives in a rehabilitation centre, Orphans of Fire, supported by Instituto Tamanduá in Pantanal, Brazil. The team describe her as a very charismatic, gentle, and clever anteater.
'Hopefully, soon enough Cecília will be taking her bath in a watering puddle or river free in nature.' - Flávia Miranda, Foundress, and president
She loves to play with her friend, Darlan, and to destroy termite mounds! Her favourite hobby is taking baths while she relaxes, washes her fur, and scratches her neck.
She has been cared for by the centre after she was orphaned when her mother died during Pantanal fires. Cecília is being prepared for release in the wild, hopefully this winter.
What the award means for Instituto Tamandua
Cecília is the first winner of the Wild Animal Unique Personality Award. This award celebrates animals’ personalities, while raising awareness that they should not be objectified and seen as mere commodities. They are all individuals.
Cecília is the first winner of the Wild Animal Unique Personality Award. This award celebrates animals’ personalities, while raising awareness that they should not be objectified and seen as mere commodities. They are all individuals.
Instituto Tamandua’s Orphans of Fire project started in 2021. The prize money from the award will be used for new infrastructure at the centre and to buy a vehicle. This will help the team monitor the anteaters once they are fully rehabilitated and released.
‘We are grateful to World Animal Protection and everyone who voted. Also, we want to congratulate all the other institutions that participated in the award on their amazing work with animals who have such great personalities. Thank you all very much, and remember animals have unique personalities and should not be treated as commodities or exploited’ - Maria Helena Mazzoni Baldini, Instituto Tamanduá Veterinarian.
This is one of the most important aspects of their work. They need to make sure that the anteaters are healthy and adapting to their new lives in nature. Once Cecília and her fellow anteaters are ready to be released, they will be fitted with a special GPS collar so they can be followed.
Anteaters can roam long distances, so the vehicle will help the team to track them. It will also be used to transport animals and supplies.
Discover more about this year's finalists and the legacy of Audrey Mealia
