The image shows a drawing of a black and white puffin with a red beak. The background is shades of blue and purple, speckled with dots.

World Animal Day ‘Design a Mug’ Competition Winner!

Posted: 25th September 2025

We are delighted to announce the winner of Naturewatch Foundation’s 2025 World Animal Day ‘Design a Mug’ competition!

With over 130 wonderful entries from around the world, our judges had the very tricky task of choosing just one winner. After much deliberation, we are thrilled to reveal that this year’s winning design came from Amelie (aged 13), with her beautiful illustration of a cow in a meadow. Amelie’s design captured the joyful spirit of World Animal Day perfectly, reminding us that farm animals deserve kindness and compassion just as much as wild and companion animals.

Amelie’s dad shared a little more about her inspiration: “She had so much fun creating her design. As a huge animal lover and lifelong vegan, helping animals is extremely important to her, and celebrating kindness and compassion towards animals always. Highland cows are one of her favourite animals, and we see them often in the meadow when walking around one of our favourite nature spots. It was a close call between a cow and a Beagle with a Fox Hound – we have both (rescued) hounds and she loves them too!”

Grab your 2025 World Animal Day mug here!

We are so excited to see Amelie’s creation brought to life on our special edition 2025 mugs, which are now available to buy from Naturewatch Foundation’s online shop. And if you missed out in previous years, the outstanding 2023 and 2024 designs are still available too – why not start your own collection?

A woman's hand holding our competition winning mug with a highland cow drawing on it.

Our wonderful runners-up

This year’s competition saw entries from all corners of the globe, from the USA to the Isle of Wight. With so many inspiring designs, we couldn’t choose just one winner. Congratulations also go to our talented runners-up across the different age categories, whose prizes are on their way to them!

Nelle, aged 4, from East London, came runner up in the under 5 category. Nelle loves drawing nature and being outside, which really shone through in her entry!
Georgie, aged 10, from Cumbria, came runner up in the 5-10 age category. As a huge animal lover, she knew exactly what to create, celebrating animals all over the world in their natural habitats!
Macy, age 16, from Cumbria, came runner up in the 11-17 age category. Macy chose to showcase her love of pangolins through her design. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammal in the world, so it’s important to recognise them and celebrate them.
Colleen, aged 37, from Isle of Wight, came runner up in the 17+ age category with her beautiful drawing of a puffin. Puffins are listed on the Red List of UK Birds of Conservation Concern, which makes it all the more important to protect them.

A page split into four showing: Our Runner-up in the 17+ age category. The image shows a drawing of a black and white puffin with a red beak. The background is shades of blue and purple, speckled with dots. Georgie, age 10, with her runner up entry in the 5-10 age category! The image shows a 10-year-old girl smiling proudly, holding up her World Animal Day Mug Competition entry - a globe surrounded by animals in their natural habitats. Nelle, age 4, proudly showing her runner-up design in the under 5 age category! The image shows a 4-year-old girl smiling proudly, holding her World Animal Day Mug Competition entry. The drawing is of an orange and green snake on a tree branch, with water flowing below. And finally our runner-up in the 11-16 age category. A drawing of pangolins in four poses, from lying flat to curled into a ball. Text reads: “The Pangolin. Pangolins are the Earth’s only mammals completely covered in scales!”

Congratulations once again to Amelie for her winning design, and thank you to everyone who took part in making this year’s competition such a joy. We can’t wait to see what creative ideas 2026 will bring! Naturewatch Foundation, a UK-based animal welfare charity, coordinates World Animal Day every year and sponsors the annual World Animal Day grant. Visit the Naturewatch Foundation website to find out more.