42 Photos of the Cutest Wild Animals in the World (2024)

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Puppies pale in comparison to these little guys.

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Take a break from the puppy pictures and kitten videos for today’s daily dose of cuteness. Though there is certainly no shortage of baby animal picturesand adorable animal photos out there for you to peruse, how about some of the cutest animals in the world? Some of these animals you may have seen before, but whether you’re familiar with them or not, we can guarantee you’ll be falling in love with all these little cuties.

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Sand cat, North Africa and Southwest Asia

As cute as your favorite funny cat videos are, none can compare to the impossibly cartoonish, wide-faced Felis margarita. Sand cats live in the deserts of North Africa and Southwest Asia and get most of their moisture from their prey, rather than drinking water.

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Siberian flying squirrel, North Asia and Europe

I’m sure you can see how this is one of the cutest animals in the world. You wouldn’t think a tubby little fluff ball like this could go very far in the air, but flaps of skin by their legs help them glide between trees. You can catch a glimpse of Siberian flying squirrels in Russia, China, and other northern areas of Asia and Europe. Tourists get especially excited to see them in Hokkaido, the only island in Japan with the furballs.

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Pika, Asia and North America

American pikas are related to rabbits and hares. They might be small, adorable animals, but they’re still tough—the little critters can survive harsh weather without burying holes.

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Fennec fox, North Africa

There’s a reason fennec foxes make you say “aww”—the North African animals are the world’s smallest canine species. Fennec foxes also have the largest ears relative to their body size, which helps them give off heat and hunt prey.

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Gundi, North Africa

If you thought guinea pigs were cute, try looking at a gundi without squealing. The Northern African rodents’ toes have tiny bristles that help them clean their fur.

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Japanese raccoon dog, Asia

These adorable animals—also known as tanuki—are more closely related to dogs than raccoons. They’re monogamous, and the papa and mama Japanese raccoon dogs work together to raise their pups.

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Chevrotain, Southeast Asia and West Africa

These tiny creatures look straight out of a fairytale forest. It might look like a deer, but the hooved chevrotain stands at only about a foot tall at the shoulder. Instead of antlers, the male “mouse deer” have tiny fang-like tusks.

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See Also

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Harris’s antelope squirrel, United States and Mexico

Who can say squirrels are pests when this adorable species exists? Found in hot desert climates in the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico, Harris’s antelope squirrels use their tails as umbrellas to block out the sweltering sun.

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Bongo, Africa

Nope, bongos aren’t just drums—the African animals are also the biggest species of forest antelope in the world. As adults, their horns can grow as long as 40 inches.

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Serval, Africa

Just look at that face! These adorable animals that look like “giraffe cats” are found in African savannas, and their long necks aren’t their only defining feature. Servals also have bigger ears than any other cat.

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Axolotl, Mexico

The “Mexican walking fish” isn’t a fish at all but actually a salamander. Unlike other amphibians, which usually lose their dorsal fins and external gills after they grow out of the tadpole phase, the water-bound axolotls keep those features through adulthood, which explains why they’re one of the most adorable animals.

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Quoll, Australia and New Guinea

As marsupials, these Australian mammals spend their first nine weeks of life in their mama’s pouch. Despite their sweet appearance, quolls are unapologetic predators. Larger species eat birds, possums, and rabbits, while smaller ones stick with insects, birds’ eggs, and little animals.

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Tamandua, South America

This small anteater is cuter than its larger relatives. Its long mouth and tongue help it eat up to 9,000 ants every day (yowza!), but the tamandua also eats termites, honey, and fruit.

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Jerboas, Northern Africa and Asia

Between their tufted tails, big ears, long hind legs, and tiny front limbs, jerboas look like a lab-made mish-mosh of several species. But make no mistake: The rodents are totally natural and belong to the same family as birch mice. Their long legs help them jump high and far.

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Maned wolf, South America

Those long legs could even put Gisele Bündchen’s to shame. The fox-like maned wolf actually isn’t closely related to foxes or wolves and is the only member of the genus Chrysocyon. Its food choices are equally misleading—the biggest part of the South American animal’s diet is a berry called lobeira, which means “fruit of the wolf.”

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Quokka, Australia

You may have heard of these little guys in the context of selfies. Known as the “happiest animal in the world” because of their friendly appearance, quokka selfies became somewhat of a trend in Australia just a few years ago.

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Japanese dwarf flying squirrel, Japan

These tiny nocturnal creatures can leap from tree to tree using a gliding membrane that connects from their wrists to ankles called a patagium. Japanese dwarf flying squirrels typically feed on buds, leaves, bark, fruit, and seeds.

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Bearded tamarin monkey, Brazil and Peru

I mustache you a question: do you think these monkeys are the cutest animals in the world? The bearded tamarin monkey can be found in rainforests hanging out in groups of three to eight, but sometimes may be found alone.

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Arctic foxes, Arctic Circle

Although small and adorable, arctic foxes can endure the most freezing temperatures—as low as -58 degrees Fahrenheit!

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Klipspringer, Southern Africa

This small antelope is known for its monogamy. Klipspringers display long-term—even lifelong!—pair bonding.

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Balloon fish

The balloon fish is also known as a porcupinefish due to its sharp spines. These spines typically lay flat to their back until they puff up, making the spines stand straight out.

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Bilby, Australia

Bilbies tend to be solitary marsupials, but sometimes they can be seen traveling in pairs. The pairs are typically two females who work together to raise their offspring.

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Japanese weasel, Japan

Japan has banned the hunting of female weasels in order to conserve the species. The country has seen a 25 percent decline in the population of this particular weasel species for the last three generations.

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Pygmy hippopotamus, West Africa

Pygmy hippos are few and far between, with fewer than 3,000 estimated to be in the wild. This is mainly due to poaching as well as the loss of habitat as forests are converted to farmland.

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Red panda, Eastern Himalayas

These little fox-like cuties use their long bushy tails to keep themselves warm during the winter months. Red pandas are incredibly acrobatic and tend to stay up in the trees.

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Dik-dik, Africa

Dik-diks get their name from the unique alarm calls that come from the females. Both male and females also make a sort of piercing whistling sound that alert other animals to predators.

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Malayan tapir, Asia

Malayan tapirs are easily identified by the distinct light-colored patch that spreads from its shoulders down to its back. The pattern is used for camouflage since the disordered pigmentation breaks up the outline, making it more challenging to spot.

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Margay, Central and South America

This nocturnal and mostly independent wildcat lurks in the luscious forests of Central and South America. Their paws are specifically customized to scurry up tree trunks and along branches easily.

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Capybara, South America

The capybara is currently the largest living rodent in the world. They wander swampy, grass regions alongside bodies of water in South America.

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Taeniura meyeni, Indo-Pacific

This species of stingray lays motionless most days and isn’t aggressive towards humans. They have been known to approach and examine divers. But don’t bother them! They will sting when provoked.

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Slow loris, Southeast Asia

Look at those big eyes! But don’t be fooled. Slow lorises are the only known venomous primate.

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The American mink, North America

While this little cutie is native to North America, human involvement has actually expanded where the American mink lives, such as parts of Europe and South America.

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Patagonian mara, Argentina and Patagonia

Closely resembling a jackrabbit, the Patagonian mara has very distinct long ears and limbs, making it look bunny-like. They are monogamous for life, only finding a new partner after their former partner’s death.

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Mangalitsa, Hungary

These Hungarian hairy and wooly pigs were crossbred in the mid-nineteenth century. The mangalitsas curly hair sometimes makes it resemble a sheep.

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Elephant shrew, Africa

You can probably see why these little guys are called “elephant” shrews with their trunk-like nose. They are very difficult to trap and stay well camouflaged, making them rarely seen.

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Numbat, Western Australia

Living in logs and burrows, the numbat hunts for termites that live underground with their sticky tongue. There are less than 1,000 of these marsupials left in the wild today.

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Tarsier, Southeast Asia

Similar to the slow loris, tarsiers have massive eyes. In some cases, their eyeballs are larger than their entire brain. Tarsiers need to balance their large eyes and head so they are able to wait long periods for prey to come along.

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Malayan flying lemur, Southeast Asia

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a flying lemur! OK, the Malayan flying lemur doesn’t actually fly. The membrane that connects from its neck to its toes allows it to leap among the trees with utmost grace.

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Gold dust day geckos, Madagascar and Comoros

You may have seen this miniature gecko before, most likely on your television screens as the gold dust day gecko is used as the mascot for GEICO.

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Wombats, Australia

Wombats are muscular pint-size marsupials with short legs. They are actually heavier than they look, weighing between 44 and 77 pounds.

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Siberian chipmunk, Asia

The Siberian chipmunk appears across Asia from Russia to China and Japan. They were even introduced to Europe back in the 1960s for people to have as pets.

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Dugong, Indian and Western Pacific Oceans

Have you ever seen a sea cow? It’s likely you have not, but you may have seen a manatee. Dugongs are the only members left of the Dugongiade family and are now closest related to manatees. Now that you’ve seen the cutest animals in the world, check out these adorable pictures of animal friendships that will fill your heart with warmth.

Marissa Laliberte-Simonian is a London-based associate editor with the global promotions team at WebMD’s Medscape.com and was previously a staff writer for Reader's Digest. Her work has also appeared in Business Insider, Parents magazine, CreakyJoints, and the Baltimore Sun. You can find her on Instagram @marissasimonian.

Emma Taubenfeld is a former assistant editor for Reader’s Digest who writes about digital lifestyle topics such as memes, social media captions, pickup lines and cute pets. When she’s not working, you can find Emma reading corny young adult novels, creating carefully curated playlists and figuring out how to spice up boxed mac and cheese.