What is the cutest animal in the world: 20 cute animals in the world?

What is the cutest animal in the world: 20 cute animals in the world?

There are millions of beautiful and cuddly animals in the world. These animals are fascinating, with remarkable personalities and behaviours. Depending on where you reside, some charming critters are rare, while others may be seen at your nearest zoo. What is the cutest animal in the world?

Meerkats, margay and harp seals are some of the cutest animals in the world
A standing baby meerkat (L), The ocelot sits on a tree trunk, and a harp seal pup propped up on snow (R). Photo: Tambako the Jaguar, Brambillasimone, Schafer & Hill (modified by author)
Source: Getty Images

TABLE OF CONTENTS

To compile a list of the cutest animals in the world, we considered factors such as the animal's appearance, behaviour, popularity, and personal preferences of the reviewers based on data from various animal review websites such as the National Zoo, Britannica and National Geographic Kids. However, this list is inconclusive as it may not contain all the numbers regarded as beautiful.

Cutest animals in the world

There's no denying that animals can be adorable, from fluffy red pandas to bouncy pikas. These critters melt everyone's hearts, whether it's their lovely little cheeks, beautiful fur, or endearing behaviours. What is the cutest animal in the world? Here are some of the most adorable animals in the world.

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AnimalsOrigin
Red PandaSouthwestern China,Eastern Himalayas
Harp SealNorthernmost Atlantic,Arctic Ocean
Emperor PenguinAntarctica
Fennec FoxNorth African deserts
QuokkaWestern Australia
Sea OtterNorth Pacific Ocean
MeerkatSouthern Africa
PikaAsia, North America
HedgehogEurope, Asia, Africa, New Zealand
SlothSouth and Central America
KoalaAustralia
Giant PandasChina
Ezo flying squirrelHokkaido, Japan
Iberian LynxIberian Peninsula,southwestern Europe
KlipspringerSouthern and Eastern Africa
MargayCentral and South America
Elephant shrewAfrica
QuollAustralia, New Guinea
CapybaraSouth America
MangalitsaHungary

1. Red Panda

A red panda stands on a tree branch
A red panda is interacting with its environment. Photo: Marianne Purdie
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 14 – 23 years (in the wild)
  • Mass: Male 3.7–6.2 kilograms (8–13 pounds), female (3–6 kilograms) (7–13 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

Red pandas are tiny mammals that live in southwestern China and the eastern Himalayas. It features a black belly and legs, dense reddish-brown fur, white-lined ears, a white nose, and a ringed tail. Red pandas live in coniferous, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. It feeds primarily on bamboo leaves and shoots, sometimes consuming fruits and blooms.

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2. Harp Seal

Harp Seal is in the West Ice
Harp Seal is resting on white ice. Photo: Sunvincible
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: over 30 years
  • Mass: 130 kilograms (286 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

Harp seals are earless and live in the northernmost Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The adult harp seal's eyes are entirely black. It has silver-grey fur on the exterior, with black harp or wishbone-shaped patterns dorsally. Harp seals are carnivorous. Their diet is broad, consisting of several fish and invertebrate animals.

3. Emperor Penguin

Penguin chicks stands on an icy ground
Three cute Emperor Penguin chicks huddled together. Photo: AntAntarctic
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 15 – 20 years (in the wild)
  • Mass: 23 kilograms (50 pounds)
  • Class: Aves

The emperor penguin is the heaviest and tallest extant penguin species, and it is unique to Antarctica. The black feathers on the head and back contrast sharply with the white abdomen, pale yellow chest, and bright yellow ear spots.

4. Fennec Fox

Fennec fox is on the rock
Fennec fox view from front and side. Photo: Sduben
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 14 years (in captivity), 10 years (in the wild)
  • Mass: 0.68–1.6 kilograms (1.5–3.5 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

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What animal do people find the cutest? The fennec fox is a tiny crepuscular fox that lives in North African deserts. Its most distinguishing characteristic is its extraordinarily enormous ears, which help to vent heat and listen for subsurface prey. The fennec fox is an omnivore that eats tiny rodents, small birds, and lizards, their eggs, fruits, insects, roots, leaves, and some tubers.

5. Quokka

Quokka is standing next to a tree vegetation
Quokka is in Rottnest Island, Perth, Western Australia. Photo: Kevin Schafer
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 10 years
  • Mass: 3 kilograms (6 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

The quokka is a little macropod, approximately the dimensions of a domestic cat. These small cute animals live on some tiny islands near the coast of Western Australia. Quokkas eat various plants, including sedges, grasses, and other plants and leaves.

6. Sea Otter

Sea Otter is leaning against a wodden pole
A close-up of a seal on the rock at the beach. Photo: Albert Gallant
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 15 – 20 years (female, in the wild), 10–15 years (male, in the wild)
  • Mass: Male 22–45 kilograms (48–99 pounds), Female 14–33 kilograms (30–72 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

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The sea otter is a coastal mammal found along the northern and eastern shores of the North Pacific Ocean. Its principal source of insulation is an extraordinarily thick covering of fur, the densest in the animal kingdom. It mainly feeds on aquatic invertebrates like sea urchins, molluscs, crabs, and some fish.

7. Meerkat

Meerkat with pups in Namibia
Adult meerkats with pups resting outside burrows in the Namib Desert. Photo: Paul Souders
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 12 – 14 years (in captivity)
  • Mass: Male 730 grams (1.6 pounds), Female 720 grams ((1.5 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

Meerkats are small mongooses that live in southern Africa. Their coat ranges from light grey to yellowish-brown, with the back featuring alternate, unclear light and dark bands. Meerkats have foreclaws suited for digging and can thermoregulate to live in their harsh, dry environment. They are primarily insectivorous, eating a lot of beetles and lepidopterans.

8. Pika

Pika with flowers in its mouth
A pika is on a rocky surface. Photo: Erniedecker
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 7 years (in the wild)
  • Mass: 100 grams (0.2 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

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A pika is a tiny mammal that lives in the mountains of Asia and North America. They are similar to their near relative, the rabbit, with short limbs, a relatively spherical body, an even covering of fur, and no external tail, but with shorter, rounder ears. Pikas enjoy rocky slopes and feed on various plants, including flowers, grasses, and new stems.

9. Hedgehog

Hedgehog in Indonesia
Close-up of a young hedgehog on the grass. Photo: Kuritafsheen
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 2 – 5 years
  • Mass: 100 grams–1 kilogram (0.2 pounds–2.2 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

A hedgehog is a spiny animal belonging to the subfamily Erinaceinae of the eulipotyphlan group Erinaceidae. Hedgehogs are easily identified by their spines, hollow hairs stiffened with keratin. They eat snails, insects, toads, frogs, bird eggs, snakes, mushrooms, carrion, berries, grassroots, and melons.

10. Sloth

A sloth in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
A three-toed tree sloth hangs on a branch with her baby clinging to her belly. Photo: Kevin Schafer
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: over 20 years
  • Mass: 3.6–7.7 kilograms (7.9–17 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

What is the cutest animal alive today? Sloths are a Neotropical species of xenarthran mammals belonging to the Folivora suborder, including current arboreal tree sloths and ancient terrestrial ground sloths. Tree sloths are known for their slow movement and dedicate most of their life dangling upside down in the trees of tropical rainforests in South and Central America.

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11. Koala

A koala in Germany
A young koala on a tree branch. Photo: Raimund Linke
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 13 – 18 years (in the wild)
  • Mass: 4–15 kilograms (9–33 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

Koalas are trees herbivorous marsupials native to Australia. These adorable cute animals are easily distinguished by their robust, tailless body and big head with circular, fluffy ears and a large, black snout.

12. Giant Panda

A giant panda stares on one side
A giant panda is standing on a green vegetation. Photo: Ytwong
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 20 years (in the wild)
  • Mass: 70–120 kilograms (154–264 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

The gigantic panda is a bear that can only be found in China. It is distinguished by its striking black-and-white fur and rotund physique. Despite being classified as a carnivoran, the enormous panda's diet is predominantly herbivorous, consisting virtually entirely of bamboo.

13. Ezo flying squirrel

Ezo flying squirrel is leaning against a giant tree
A flying squirrel is sitting on a tiny tree branch. Photo: Satoru S
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: Less than three years (in the wild)
  • Mass: 62–123 grams (0.13–0.27 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

The Ezo flying squirrel is a tiny tree rodent with a white abdomen, a dark brown back and tail in the summer and grey-brown in the winter, and a ring of dark brown fur around its eyes. This cute pet species, once called Ezo, is only found in Hokkaido, Japan. Ezo flying squirrels are entirely herbivorous.

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14. Iberian Lynx

Iberian Lynx on a clear day
Iberian lynx in the Andújar mountains. Photo: Pablorebo1984
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: up to 13 years (in the wild)
  • Mass: 7–16 kilograms (15–35 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

The Iberian lynx is one of four surviving mid-sized wild cat genus Lynx species. It can only be found in the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. The Iberian lynx has short spotted fur that ranges in tint from yellowish to brown.

15. Klipspringer

Klipspringer is standing on a rock
Klipspringer is in the wilderness of Lake Manyara National Park. Photo: Michele D'Amico supersky77
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 15 years
  • Mass: 8–18 kilograms (17–39 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

Klipspringers are tiny antelopes that live in southern and eastern Africa. In contrast to most antelopes, the klipspringer possesses a thick and rough coat with hollow, fragile hairs. Klipspringers are mainly browsers, preferring young plants, fruits, and flowers

16. Margay

Margay on a tree branch
Margay is descending from a tree in Costa Rica. Photo: Juan Carlos Vindas
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: over 20 years (in captivity)
  • Mass: 3.6 kilograms (7.9 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

What is the rarest, cutest animal? The margay is a small, nighttime wild cat that lives mainly in primary perennial and deciduous forests in Central and South America. It hunts Ingram's squirrels and presumably consumes grass, fruit, and other vegetation to aid digestion. The margay can hunt its prey solely in trees.

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17. Elephant shrew

Elephant shrew is walking past some vegetation
East African black and rufous elephant shrew is on a rocky background. Photo: Ger Bosma
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 1 – 2 years (in the wild), 3 – 4 years (in human care)
  • Mass: 28–43 grams (0.06–0.09 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

Elephant shrews are tiny, quadrupedal, insectivorous animals that look like rodents or opossums. They have scaly tails, large snouts, and legs that are pretty lengthy for their size, which they utilise to go from one location to another, much like rabbits. Elephant shrews primarily consume spiders, insects, millipedes, centipedes, and earthworms.

18. Quoll

Quoll is on a wooden bench
A spotted-tailed quoll is spotted near Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. Photo: Chris Putnam
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 1 – 5 years
  • Mass: Males 1.3 kilograms (2.9 pounds), Females 0.9 kilograms (2 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

Quolls are meat-eating marsupials indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. These aesthetic animals are generally nocturnal, spending most of the day in a den. Their fur is brown or black, and their noses are pink. Quolls consume smaller mammals, tiny birds, reptiles, and insects.

19. Capybara

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Capybara is on tall grasses
A Capybara sitting on the riverbank in the Pantanal wetlands. Photo: Andrew Parker
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 8 – 10 years
  • Mass: 35–66 kilograms (77–145 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

The capybara is a massive cavy rodent indigenous to South America. It is the giant extant mouse in the genus Hydrochoerus. The capybara has a big, barrel-shaped body and a small head, with reddish-brown fur on top that turns yellowish-brown below.

20. Mangalitsa

A breed of curly Mangalitsa pigs
Mangalica, a Hungarian breed of domestic pigs, are in the piggery. Photo: Oleg_0
Source: Getty Images
  • Lifespan: 15 – 20 years
  • Mass: over 500 kilograms (1102 pounds)
  • Class: Mammalia

Mangalica is a domestic pig breed that originated in Hungary. Mangalica pigs have a thick, curly covering of hair. It is generally fed a mix of wild grass, potatoes, and pumpkins grown on the farm. The main output made from this pig is sausage, which is usually packaged in the pig's duodenum.

What countries have the cutest animals?

There are many adorable and cuddly creatures in the world, so whether you're considering going on a safari or a private wildlife walking tour, these nations have the cutest wildlife.

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  • China
  • Australia
  • Japan
  • Peru
  • New Guinea
  • Spain
  • New Zealand
  • Morocco
  • South Africa

What animal is cute and smart?

Dogs are recognised for their exceptional intelligence and make the best pets. Their ability to learn tricks, recognise emotions, and form strong bonds with humans is commendable.

The chimpanzee is renowned for possessing exceptional intelligence. These enormous primates can learn words, engage in object play, and even experience feelings like sadness over a friend's passing. The chimps are thought to be highly active thinkers and possess extraordinary cognitive abilities.

Above are some of the cutest animals in the world. There is no disputing that animals come in many shapes and sizes, each with distinct characteristics that set them apart. Some animals have a certain quality that makes them unquestionably adorable, whether it's their enormous soft fur, brown eyes, or playful disposition.

Yen.com.gh recently released a fantastic list of rare Squishmallows. Squishmallows are incredibly soft, pillow-like figures. They're great nighttime companions and adorable travel supports.

Despite their original target demographic being younger kids, Squishmallows' popularity surpasses age lines. These Squishmallows, each with its backstory, have become cult classics. Learn more about them from the article.

Source: YEN.com.gh

Authors:
Tatiana Thiga avatar

Tatiana Thiga (Lifestyle writer) Tatiana Thiga is a content creator who joined Yen in 2022. She is an English literature graduate from Kenyatta University. She has amassed sufficient knowledge working on a variety of topics, including biographies, fashion and lifestyles, guides, and more. In 2023, Tatiana finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. You can reach her at tatianathiga@gmail.com