A wild cat named Magellan (pictured above) from a zoo in Poland has been named the world’s best manul – the species to which he belongs – following a viral online campaign in Poland that saw a leading politician and even the army join efforts to help him win over 125,000 public votes.
“WE HAVE A CHAMPION!!!!! You are great! Magellan the most important and beautiful manul in the world 2023!!!!!!!!” wrote Poznań Zoo on Facebook.
The Winner is… #Magellan #Poznan #Zoo #Manul #PallassCat https://t.co/uoiDtIvVvx
— Zoo Poznan (@PoznanZoo) December 12, 2023
They were celebrating Magellan’s victory in the Manul World Cup, an informal online contest organised to find the most popular member of the species, which is also known as Pallas’s cat and is native to Central Asia.
Magellan – who is named after the famous Portuguese explorer because he escaped from the zoo in 2020 – received around 127,000 votes in the final, narrowly defeating his rival Bol from Japan, who got around 113,000.
“Now we have to fund him a ship,” Poznań Zoo wrote after the animal’s victory, encouraging people to help raise money for a new enclosure. They noted that among Magellan’s talents is “pretending to be a stone” but that “the rest of the world annoys him”.
Magellan’s surge to victory in the World Cup – which started on 30 November with 40 contestants from around the globe – captured the hearts of the Polish public, spawning countless calls for support and plenty of memes.
VOTE FOR MAGELLAN
🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/b6iIVHaY69— Grochu🦅🇵🇱💪 (@Pan_Grochu) December 11, 2023
Among those to lend their support was Radosław Fogiel, an MP and former spokesman for the Law and Justice (PiS) party that ruled Poland until this week.
Ahead of Magellan’s semi-final against Stubsi, a rival from Germany, Fogiel tweeted: “Magellan needs you! Here’s our chance to beat the German furball in the vote!”
The 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade also encouraged people to vote while STS, the largest Polish betting company, opened online bets on the event.
Admin przychodzi do Was z rozszerzonymi kursami na #manulworldcup!
TEN POTĘŻNY MAGELLAN JUŻ NIE ODDA ZWYCIĘSTWA! ❤️
Kursy w komentarzu! ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/nPKd107Mjd
— STS (@stspolska) December 12, 2023
Manuls are small wild cats with thick fur that allows them to withstand temperatures as low as -50 degrees Celsius.
They originated in Central Asia and are difficult to breed in captivity, but the zoo in Poznań managed to achieve this in March and April 2020.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Zoo Poznan/Facebook
Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent.
