ANIMAL KINGDOM Top 10 Cutest Animals On The Planet

OUR TOP 10

Cutest Animals On The Planet

There’s nothing more uplifting than looking at photos of cute animals. When faced with adorable things, our brains release a chemical called dopamine that makes us feel happy. When you’re searching for a midday pastime or trying to relieve a little stress, looking at adorable creatures is a good way to make your day a little brighter. This list is sure to give you that much-needed dopamine shot.

Leafy Sea Dragons They maintain their plant-like appearance to camouflage with the plant life on the ocean floor, as they are quite poor swimmers. They resemble seahorses but are more closely related to pipefish. Like both seahorses and pipefish, male sea dragons care for the fertilized eggs. They carry the eggs beneath their tails, where the eggs are provided with oxygen through a special organ.

Fennec Foxes They have the largest ears relative to the body size of any member of the canid family, which certainly contributes to their cuteness factor. They live in the deserts of North Africa and eat insects like locusts, rodents, lizards, birds, and eggs. Fennec foxes live in family groups of up to 10 foxes in dens. There, they wait out the hottest part of the day before hunting at night.

The Bee Hummingbird It is the smallest hummingbird in the world. They measure only 2.24 inches in length! Their eggs are the size of a coffee bean. These colourful little birds sport vibrant hues of red, orange, yellow, and blue. As they fly, their wings make a sound that resembles the buzzing of a bumblebee. They are incredibly productive little creatures, visiting up to 1,500 flowers a day.

The Slow Loris

You might recognise this adorable creature from your Instagram feed. These adorable nocturnal primates might look innocent with their big eyes and furry faces, but don’t be fooled. They bite with flesh rotting venom. Despite this particularly brutal defence mechanism, slow lorises rarely use their venom against predators - and certainly not against unsuspecting humans. Instead, they reserve their venomous bite for other slow lorises to protect their territory.

Arctic Foxes They sleep curled up beneath their tails to conserve warmth in their chilly habitats. They are also the only canid with fur on the pads of their feet—which helps contribute to the fact that Arctic foxes don’t begin to shiver until temperatures reach –94 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Numbat This cute marsupial from Australia is severely endangered with an estimated population of less than 1,000. Also known as a banded anteater, noombat or walpurti, the animal has a long sticky tongue which it uses to pick up termites (the only thing it eats).

The Elephant Shrew Its distinctive long nose lends a whimsical air to these small, fuzzy mammals. Despite their resemblance to mice, elephant shrews are not rodents. They’re not even actually shrews! They are most closely related to a family of African mammals that includes sea cows, aardvarks and, yes, elephants! They live in forests and plains in Southern African countries, eat insects, and give birth to young three to five times a year.

Red Pandas They mostly live in trees and are only a little larger than a domestic cat. These sweet, furry creatures are known for wrapping themselves up in their tails in the winter for warmth. They primarily live in the Eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. Like giant pandas, red pandas have a pseudo-thumb, which makes it possible for them to grasp bamboo while they eat.

Mandarin Ducklings When a mandarin duckling hatches, its mother has to coax it to jump out of a tree. The colourful ducks live in southeast Asia, Great Britain, and some parts of North America.

The Klipspringer It is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. Klipspringers inhabit mountain ranges of eastern Africa from the Red Sea Hills to the Cape and north to Angola along coastal ranges and river gorges. Adult klipspringers are agile, quick, and surefooted, which helps them dodge danger.