The internet is practically made for sharing adorable animal pictures. But listen, we’ve all seen a thousand cute kittens and puppies by now. Bunnies and calves are old news as well. While those little guys were stealing all the limelight, tons of other animal tots were waiting for you to notice how sweet they are. Ever seen how freaking cute a baby screech owl is? How about a newborn anteater? We’re here to champion the often-overlooked babies of the animal kingdom. Just because their parents aren’t the most beautiful, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve our attention!
White-handed gibbon
The huge, bottomless eyes, the adorable hair, and look at the little sweater! Knuppy here’s a perfect example of how cute baby white-handed gibbons can be, but you’re unlikely to come across one in the wild. Unless you live in south-east Asia, that is, and even then they don’t come with the knitwear!
Knuppy’s a resident of a zoo in Bremen, Germany, and in this picture he’s just three months old. Aww! Perhaps they’re so cute because they closely resemble human babies in proportion, but whatever the reason, we just can’t resist that innocent little smile.
Screech owl
Chicks are among the most adorable baby animals, and although you usually think of little yellow ducklings or chicklets, owl young are no exception. New York’s Sweetbriar Nature Center rescued this particular one, and his bad day probably explains the grumpy expression!
But mostly the owlet’s parents care for them until they’re old enough to leave the nest. Speaking of which, do you notice how this cute little fluff-ball looks like a nest itself? That’s because screech owls have natural camouflage. Even as adults, their underbellies are bark-colored to blend in with their forest homes.
Platypus
This baby platypus — otherwise rather cutely known as a puggle — is from Taronga Zoo in its native country, Australia. Platypuses are so unusual-looking that when they were first reported in the pre-1800s, Europe thought they were a hoax! We’re not teasing you though, platypuses really are this lovable.
The wondrous thing about them is they have elements from other animal groups — electric prey detection like fish, lactation like mammals,and egg-laying like birds. The males even have venomous spurs like reptiles. So resist the urge to hug these cute little critters!
Raccoon
Sure, you might not want them rooting through your trash, but If you’ve ever seen a raccoon eat, you’ll know it’s one of the cutest things in the world. They hold food to nibble with their little hands, it’s so sweet! The babies are called kits, and they’re even more heart-melting.
And while masks usually disguise identities, we recognize racoons by their little bandit-mask eye markings. Well, kits don’t get those until they’re around two-and-a-half, so you might not know a raccoon kit when you see one! The black mask absorbs light, so they can see better in the dark.
Anteater
When this baby anteater — or pup — was born in 2005 at London Zoo, it held a Big Nose Day to celebrate. And who wouldn’t want to celebrate such a cute snoot? Don’t you just want to boop it? This particular patootie is the pup of a giant anteater, which lives in Central and South America.
Although they do eat ants, anteaters are pretty much up for any insect snack, which they vacuum up using a tongue that can be as long as 2 feet. Wow! One of the sweetest things about anteater pups is how they ride on their mother’s backs when they’re young.
Peccary
On the surface peccaries resemble pigs, but while they’re related, they’re a different taxonomy. Their babies are just as cute as any piglet though, and while most pigs don’t have fur, these little fluffers sure do, which makes them all the more lovable.
Peccaries are social creatures, communicating with physical contact and “talking” to one another with grunts and such. Interestingly, they were thought to be extinct by western science until relatively recently, when they were “rediscovered” in 1971. You can’t have one as a pet though, since in some areas they’re endangered.
Leaf monkey
This beautiful baby with his amazing eyebrows is Elke, a baby François langur, or leaf monkey, born at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo in 2009. This happened much to the delight of everyone there, considering how endangered the species is. But who could do anything to hurt such precious little treasures?
Certainly not the females of the monkey’s social group, that’s for sure. They have a very communal way of childcare, where each female looks after all the children in the group until they’re six or maybe seven and can fend for themselves.
Sloth
A zoo in Germany welcomed a new addition to its protection in 2015: a baby two-toed sloth, a creature which is actually related to the anteater. Sloths are known for their inactivity, but it isn’t just that they move slowly. Their entire metabolism is adapted to their sedentary treetop lifestyle: they sleep for 15 hours a day and poop once a week!
Amazingly, sloths are born with their eyes open from birth and they come into the world with teeth and fully-formed claws for climbing. The first thing they do is climb up to their mother’s chest for safety. Since they’re often upside-down, their fur runs backwards too.
Wombat
In 2018 at Germany’s Duisburg Zoo, celebrations were in order when one of its wombats, Tinsel, gave birth to Apari, the first of his kind born there for almost four decades! With his super-large ears and darling nose, Apari is just irresistible.
But how would such a precious jumping bean survive in the wild? Well, wombats are marsupials, and like their more famous kangaroo cousins, they have pouches. Babies live in their mother’s pouches for up to nine months before they’re ready to face the world.
Koala
If you can find something that melts a heart faster than a smiling baby koala snoozing in a tree, you’re bound by law to inform us immediately. They look like living plushies and it takes all the willpower in the world to resist sweeping one up for a snuggle. They just look so warm and squishy!
Although some people call them koala bears, that’s actually a misnomer. They’re marsupials like kangaroos, and are close relatives to wombats. Once mom falls pregnant with a baby koala, or a joey, it takes a mere 35 days for the baby to emerge!
Harp seal
If you’re looking for the aquatic version of a puppy, you can rest easy: you’ve found it. Arctic harp seals look for all the world like sea puppers with their soft fur and doggy whiskers. Plus the way they bound around? Just like a hopping doggo!
Of course, they’re wild and you should avoid petting them, but it’s a wonderful dream all the same! Harp seals have an unusual birthing-ground: mothers have their pups on icebergs, and they nurse them with milk until they develop enough blubber to survive in the icy waters.
Ferret
Ferrets don’t have the best reputation, but there’s no way you could describe this tiny treasure as anything but precious. All baby ferrets, or kits, are born with this layer of peach fuzz, though admittedly they’re not all lucky enough to have a doll bed all to themselves.
Kits are deaf and blind for up to five weeks, so they rely on their mother for everything. Female adults, called jills, make great moms! A jill knows how many kits she has, and she will not only seek out missing ones but also adopt other kits that need a home.
Fennec fox
These particular fennec fox kits were born in Japan’s Sunshine International Aquarium — hopefully not in the water — and were hugely popular. You can see why! They look like they have the cutest parts of puppies and kittens combined into one huge-eared bundle of joy!
Their ears are actually used to both hunt and to regulate their temperature in hot desert environments, so you’re unlikely to see them in the wild. All the more so because they’re nocturnal! Fennec fox kits are very vulnerable and rely on their parents for everything until they grow.
Sugar glider
Sweet by name and appearance, sugar gliders look like adorable squirrels or mice, but they’re not rodents at all. Baby gliders are called joeys because they’re marsupials. Unlike humans, where twins are less common than single babies, it’s the norm for glider mothers to have two joeys. Double the fun!
Newborn joeys can’t glide, or even regulate their own temperature, so they rely on their parents for warmth. When they’re not in their mother’s pouch, glider joeys are snuggling with their parents — a role the father also shares to help keep his baby alive.
Adélie penguin
Penguins are already adorable, dressed up in their finest and waddling around like little confused butlers. So what could be cuter? Well, their babies of course! Penguin chicks are so fluffy and huggable, but Adélie penguins are among the most enchanting.
But while you may want to take one home as a teddy-bear substitute, that’s a no-go we’re afraid. They’re the smallest Antarctic penguin, but they have “small bird” syndrome and aren’t afraid to attack predators and flipper-slap human researchers. So maybe just admire them from afar!
Flying fox
Even if you don’t like bats, it’s hard not to melt at the sight of flying foxes, which true to their name look more like the latter than the former. Wildcare expert Trish Wimberly rescued these particular bat burritos from a storm on Australia’s Gold Coast in 2003.
And if their puppy-like appearance hasn’t done so already, erase all thoughts of blood-drinking bats from your mind. These lovelies only eat flowers and fruit, with nectar and pollen being their favorite snack. Flying fox pups can’t fly from birth, and they cling to mom for the first two months of their life.
Meerkat
It’s hard to believe, but their mother abandoned Lia and Roo here, so London Zoo specialists hand-reared these delights in 2009. Meerkats are very social animals, and they live in huge groups called mobs: up to 40 of them may live together.
That’s good news for meerkat moms, though. Child-rearing is a group effort, with both male and female adults caring for the mob’s pups. That means the larger the group, the more babysitters there are to care for the young ones.
Peyrieras' wooly lemur
Anything that has ‘wooly’ in its name makes you want to pet it, and Peyrieras’ wooly lemur is no exception! Like all lemurs, they’re endemic to Madagascar and have such soulful eyes, you can’t help but fall in love with them.
Speaking of those eyes, they’re actually reflective! Wooly lemurs are nocturnal, so their peepers are designed to let lots of light pass through to enhance their vision in the dark. Because of their nightlife routine and rarity, their parenting is a bit of a mystery, but we do know they’re lovable.
Chameleon
Lizards aren’t considered conventionally cute, but if any creature can change that perception it’s this beautiful baby chameleon. Their species is known for changing color, but there are so many other unique characteristics that make chameleons fascinating. For example, although chameleon babies are called hatchlings, some lay eggs, while others give birth to live young!
It’s also rare for a hatchling to meet its mother. Most chameleons leave their concealed eggs to hatch and never look back. But don’t feel bad for such hatchlings:they’re one of the rare creatures that can walk — and run — from birth; they’re completely self-sufficient from birth.
Irrawaddy river dolphin
Few animals are as beloved as dolphins, but did you know some rare species live in rivers rather than oceans? This one, for example, was orphaned and since these mammals usually rely on their parents to survive, Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources stepped in to help.
Irrawaddy river dolphins are more than cure though: they’re intelligent, too! Wild ones even work with fishermen to herd fish into the nets. They’re paid for their efforts with a portion of the catch, so everyone’s a winner! In some parts of the world, they’re even considered sacred.
Dik-dik
Hey, you at the back! Stop laughing at the name, you’ll hurt this little guy’s feelings! Now, it may look a little like Bambi: maybe that’s why it’s so cute? Yet dik-diks are actually antelopes, and even the adults are fun-sized.
In case you were wondering, they got their name for the noise they make to alert other nearby animals of predators. You see, their small size makes them the perfect target for predators, so dik-diks are fast and super-alert to make up for their lack of defenses.
Octopus
Yeah, tentacles aren’t traditionally cute, but just look at this little jelly. How could you not love it? It’s all squishy and adorable — it’s squishdorable — and so, so tiny! It looks like a miniature version of an adult, complete with bird-like beak used to get some tasty shellfish snacks.
Octopus larva grow quickly, but their most powerful defense is their brains. You see, octopuses are the smartest invertebrates on the planet, capable of solving puzzles such as opening jelly jars and using tools. They even play with toys. How sweet is that?
Frogmouth chick
If there’s another creature that looks more like a ball of cotton wool with a beak, then we couldn’t find it. Frogmouth chicks are, as one Facebook user put it, “the most gorgeous little creature ever.” They look like real-life Angry Birds!
Not only do frogmouths make excellent partners — when they find each other they mate for life — but they’re also great parents, too. Both males and females do their part to build a nest and incubate their eggs for 30 days until the chick is ready to hatch.
Armadillo
How can something armored be so lovable? Who knows, but armadillo pups manage it. This little darling is a three-banded armadillo called Spock who in 2017 was living at Poland’s Zoo Wroclaw. It’s easy to see where he got his name, too: look at those little ears! Beam us up for hugs!
It’s rare to see armadillos in the wild, since they keep themselves to themselves, but one of the most well-known facts about them is that they roll into balls, right? Actually, that’s just three-banded armadillos like Spock here! That’s not how other species, ahem, roll.
Zeedonk
Ligers are arguably the most famous cross-species animal, but they’re not the only one. Allow us to introduce you to the wonderfully-named zeedonk, a cross between a zebra and a donkey. It looks like it’s wearing fluffy-striped socks.
You probably won’t be able to pet them though, because zeedonks are wild animals with a feisty nature. They’re also more robust than a donkey. Like their striped parent, they are bigger and faster than a donkey, with a resistance to illness and disease their more domesticated parent doesn’t have.
Porcupine puffer fish
If you want a good example of a fish you’d love to hug but can’t, here is the perfect specimen: a porcupine puffer fish! This forbidden water cactus lives at YouTube’s A1A Adventures, and he’s a wonderful “baby dumpling” called Wonton. As in, you’re just ‘Wonton’ to pet him?
As you probably guessed from their names, puffer fish inflate themselves when they’re threatened into a spiny ball that doesn’t look very edible. Many species are highly poisonous when they’re eaten, too. Please don’t eat the spiky dumpling: it’s not good for you.
Pygmy hippo
Although adult hippos are weirdly cute, they are very dangerous. Well, pygmy hippos are smaller relatives of the standard-sized creatures, and their calves are even smaller! These compact cuties are short and splendidly stubby, but chances of petting one are very low. Very low indeed.
You see, even mini hippos are large compared to humans, and pygmy hippos are still powerful creatures. As with all hippos, they also share a common ancestor with whales, and they’re one of the few mammals who can nurse their young underwater.
Red panda
Made even more popular by Disney Pixar’s Turning Red, red pandas are more closely related to raccoons than giant pandas, and they have a lot in common with bears and cats, too. For example, adults carry their cubs in their mouth. Aww!
If you want to know something even more adorable about red pandas, you have to know how they sleep. They use their beautifully bushy tails as blankets, wrapping them around their bodies to keep warm. They’re the ultimate snuggle-buddies.
Brown boar
Don’t get us wrong, domesticated piglets are pretty, but wild boars have all the adorability of their relatives, with added fur fuzz. That’s not all, though: they have the sweetest stripes which resemble a British candy called a humbug, hence their nickname.
Boars tend to be social creatures, with some groups being up to 100 members strong. And they’re not just pretty, but smart, too. They’ve proven they can use tools, as demonstrated in 2021 when onefemale adult rescued her piglets from a cage trap by moving the logs sealing the door.
Hedgehog
Baby hedgehogs are so small they can easily fit into the palm of your hand, just like this one from the Hedgehog Center in Germany’s Lower Saxony. And in case you needed another reason to melt at the sight of this precious nugget, here’s one on us: they’re called hoglets!
Hedgehogs actually get their name from the grunting sounds they make and their love of foliage in people’s yards. The best thing, though, is that if you’re lucky enough to be in a position to pet one, their “spikes” aren’t pointy at all: they’re more like the bristles on a brush to us humans.
