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Panthera Corporation

EIN 20-4668756 · New York, NY

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthFair65 out of 100GovernanceStrong100 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

PANTHERA'S MISSION IS THE CONSERVATION OF THE WORLD'S 40 WILD CAT SPECIES, MANY OF WHICH ARE ENDANGERED OR THREATENED. PANTHERA DEVELOPS, IMPLEMENTS AND OVERSEES WILD CAT CONSERVATION STRATEGIES ON A GLOBAL SCALE.

Income
$91.8 million
Spending
$30.1 million
Spent on programs
84%
Reserves
-0.7 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 96%
Employees
56
Volunteers
11
Highest pay
$500,015, president/ceo

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Fair: 65 out of 100. Higher than 20% of charities in its peer group (animals, $10m to $100m).

  • Reserves

    0 of 35

    Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 5% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    15 of 15

    Income exceeded spending by 67% of income.

  • Income trend

    15 of 15

    Income rose 272% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    84% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 1 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 21% of charities in its peer group (animals, $10m to $100m).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    11 of 12 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (4)
  1. $4.3 million spent. LION - PANTHERA COMBINES AN UNDERSTANDING OF LION ECOLOGY IN HUMAN DOMINATED LANDSCAPES WITH TECHNIQUES THAT PROVIDE LOCAL COMMUNITIES WITH THE ABILITY AND INCENTIVE TO AVOID CONFLICT WITH LIONS. IN ADDITION, PANTHERA ALSO WORKS TO CURTAIL WIDESPREAD WIRE-SNARE POACHING, WHICH IS PERVASIVE IN MANY KEY LION LANDSCAPES, INCLUDING KAFUE NP (ZAMBIA) AND NIOKOLO-KOBA NP (SENEGAL).
  2. $4.2 million spent. LEOPARD - PANTHERA CONDUCTS LONG-TERM, CITIZEN-SCIENCE-BASED MONITORING AT FLAGSHIP SITES SUCH AS SOUTH AFRICA'S SABI SANDS GAME RESERVE AND SUPPORTS THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN LEOPARD MONITORING PROGRAM ACROSS SOUTH AFRICA, NAMIBIA, ZAMBIA, AND ZIMBABWE TO GUIDE PATROL EFFORTS AND WILDLIFE CORRIDORS. THROUGH ITS FURS FOR LIFE AND SAVING SPOTS DEMAND-REDUCTION INITIATIVES, PANTHERA HAS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED OVER 18,500 SYNTHETIC LEOPARD FURS FOR USE IN TRADITIONAL CEREMONIES, REDUCING DEMAND FOR AUTHENTIC SKINS AND SAVING COUNTLESS LEOPARDS. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ROYAL COMMISSION FOR ALULA, PANTHERA'S ARABIAN LEOPARD INITIATIVE WORKS TO RESCUE THE CRITICALLY ENDANGERED ARABIAN LEOPARD.
  3. $2.7 million spent. JAGUAR - PANTHERA UTILIZES A RANGE-WIDE APPROACH FOCUSING ON THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF SPECIES INFLUENCES AND DYNAMICS, INCLUDING PREY, KEY POPULATIONS, THREAT MITIGATION, EDUCATION AND BUILDING GENETIC CORRIDORS IN WHICH JAGUARS CAN MOVE SAFELY. PANTHERA WORKS CLOSELY WITH RANCHERS TO DEVELOP METHODS AND MODELS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT CATTLE RANCHING AND JAGUAR CONSERVATION CAN CO-EXIST, JUST AS THEY WORK WITH ENGINEERS AND DEVELOPERS TO DESIGN ROADS THAT ALLOW FOR EASIER PASSAGE OF JAGUARS AND OTHER WILDLIFE.
  4. $14.1 million spent. TIGER - PANTHERA, THROUGH VARIOUS INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMS, SEEKS TO INCREASE WILD TIGER POPULATIONS BY AT LEAST 50% ACROSS KEY SITES OVER THE NEXT DECADE. IN ADDITION, PANTHERA IDENTIFIES AND CREATES SAFE CORRIDORS FOR THE SPECIES TO MOVE BETWEEN CORE POPULATIONS.PUMA - PANTHERA IS WORKING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AND PROTECT PUMAS IN THE WESTERN U.S. (ESPECIALLY THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA IN WASHINGTON STATE) AND IN THE TORRES DEL PAINE NATIONAL PARK REGION IN THE CHILEAN PATAGONIA. PANTHERA'S WORK INCLUDES UTILIZING INNOVATIVE CAMERA TECHNOLOGY TO OBSERVE THE SECRET SOCIAL LIVES OF PUMAS, CHARACTERIZING DISPERSAL DYNAMICS AND IMPEDIMENTS, AND MITIGATING HUMAN-PUMA CONFLICT. A RANGE-WIDE ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF PUMAS, FROM PATAGONIA TO BRITISH COLUMBIA IS ALSO UNDERWAY. SMALL CATS - PANTHERA ALSO WORKS TO UNDERSTAND AND CONSERVE THE 33 SPECIES OF SMALL WILD CATS. PRIORITIES FOR THIS PROGRAM ARE TO FOCUS ON THE LEAST UNDERSTOOD CATS, TO ENHANCE CURRENT DATA COLLECTION ON BIG CAT STUDY SITES TO GATHER SMALL CAT DATA, AND TO STRATEGICALLY ESTABLISH NEW SITES OF HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FOR SMALL CATS. A BRIEF SUMMARY OF PANTHERA'S CROSS-CUTTING PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES:CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGY - PANTHERA DESIGNS AND DEVELOPS TOOLS TO ENHANCE FIELD ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING CUSTOM-BUILT CAMERA TRAPS DEPLOYED GLOBALLY TO SURVEY WILD CAT POPULATIONS, AND PANTHERA IDS, A SPECIALIZED SOFTWARE PLATFORM FOR CURATING AND ARCHIVING CAMERA-TRAP DATA.APPLIED SCIENCE - PANTHERA'S CORE ANALYTICAL EXPERTISE RESIDES WITHIN THE APPLIED SCIENCE PROGRAM, WHICH SUPPORTS FIELD PROJECTS BY APPLYING CUTTING-EDGE METHODS TO RESEARCH DESIGN AND ANALYSIS. KEY ACTIVITIES INCLUDE DEVELOPING NEW TECHNIQUES FOR MONITORING WILD CAT POPULATIONS, IDENTIFYING CRITICAL MOVEMENT CORRIDORS, AND ADVANCING INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO WILD CAT CONSERVATION.IMPACT ASSESSMENT - PANTHERA'S IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM DRIVES MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION. IT SUPPORTS FIELD PROJECTS TO SET GOALS, TRACK PROGRESS, ASSESS OUTCOMES, AND APPLY LESSONS LEARNED, HELPING TO MEASURE COLLECTIVE IMPACT AND DEMONSTRATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONSERVATION STRATEGIES.COUNTER WILDLIFE CRIME - PANTHERA'S COUNTER WILDLIFE CRIME PROGRAM WORKS TO REDUCE THREATS TO WILD CATS BY STRENGTHENING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND JUSTICE SYSTEMS. IT SUPPORTS INTELLIGENCE-LED OPERATIONS, BUILDS THE CAPACITY OF RANGERS AND ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, AND PROMOTES STRONGER PROSECUTION OF WILDLIFE CRIMES TO CREATE SAFER LANDSCAPES FOR WILD CATS.SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS - PANTHERA PROVIDES SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS TO POST-GRADUATE STUDENTS IN ADVANCED DEGREE PROGRAMS TO WORK ON RESEARCH AND PROJECTS IN THE CONSERVATION EFFORTS OF LARGE CAT SPECIES AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since August 2006.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.