Jessie has become Animal of the Year 2025 at the Warsaw Zoo!
The Warsaw Zoo's most enigmatic resident, a female Pallas's cat named Jessie, has won the "Animal of the Year 2025" contest. She received nearly 1,000 votes.
In the fall, her photo exploded on social media and sparked a true legend: have you even seen Jessie? Visitors increasingly lingered by the enclosure, sharing photos and videos—and the search for the secretive Pallas's cat became a real trend.
In the end, Jessie surpassed the giraffe Pietruszka and the hyraxes to become the zoo's most popular resident. 🐾
The zoo reminds us: Jessie appreciates peace and quiet—respect her space. Even if you can't see her, she definitely sees you. 😉
Congratulations to Jessie on her victory!
Join us in celebrating 💚
P.S. Have you actually seen Jessie? 😄
Source: Warsaw Zoo Facebook post .
Comments 8
Wow, Polly's cousin Jessie! Congratulations🎉
Jessie is the best! 🎉
Анна, Damn, it's a shame we didn't stop by to visit her when we were in Poland! 🙁
> P.S. Have you actually seen Jessie? 😄
Yes! And posted pics here for all to see and experience her beautiful face. She's really co cute!
partyontheobjective, You were so lucky to see her! Thank you so much for the photo! 😍 I hope we'll see her too one day! Share your experiences: when is the best time to see her?
partyontheobjective,
Thank you! It's so funny with manuls when visitors think that an enclosure is empty because manul is hiding somewhere :) I've herd it just yesterday - dad said to a daughter: "why do you look at empty enclosures, let's go to see deers" :) Of sourse those were manul enclosures :)
Vika Malyshkoverified_filled ,
She is my local manul. I always go to be there at 9 am, for the opening. Jessie gets fed between 8:30 and 10.
If she was already fed, i just plant my butt at the bench opposite her enclosure, and wait, she tends to snack on the mice and rats she gets, so she'll pop out for one every now and then. If her keeper visits, Jessie comes out for food and to say hi. Sometimes does a round or two around the enclosure, and hides again, and sometimes she clearly does not want to be seen by anyone, so she bounces around the enclosure like a fluffy ball, and hides again. Then pops out for food when the keeper is gone.
Her favourite spot is the ground level booth. You might still be able to see light reflected in Jessie's eyes as she's staring you down from the shadows of her home. There are many pics that I took that show her looking at me, but i had to seriously mess with the curves and exposure in Lightroom so the pics are not good to look at. But the zoo is right. She sees you all the time.
Roman Paulovverified_filled ,
Yeah, this happens a lot! :D And honestly, it's not that bad for the manuls, they do prefer the peace. Ula and Manuel are the most chill of the Polish manuls, and most reliably present.
Even when manuls are visible, people tend not to spot them at first or second glance, thus proving the camouflage works! <3