A new pig blood-derived N-self-doped carbon catalyst is successfully fabricated with aid of metal iron in the synthetic process. The prepared catalyst shows an excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance with high onset potential (E-onset = -0.04 V) and half-wave potential (E-1/2 = -0.16 V), which very approaches that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst (E-onset = -0.03 V, E-1/2 = -0.14 V) in alkaline electrolytes. Particularly, the catalyst possesses a significantly superior stability and immunity for methanol crossover and CO poisoning than that of Pt/C. The synthetic method is simple and cost-effective, providing a great opportunity to produce an eco-friendly and cheaper non-platinum fuel cell catalyst by using abundant natural biological resources. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.