Outrageously cute animal photos guaranteed to make you smile

Survival of the cutest

Very few things can truly unite humanity across all political, cultural and national lines, but a picture of a really, really cute kitten is just about your best shot. From smiling seals and cuddling kangaroos to round-eyed rodents we didn't even know existed, these cute animal photos won't educate or inform you – but they're absolutely guaranteed to improve your day.

Read on to see our pick of the most adorable animal photos the internet can provide...

Sleeping beauty

This teeny-tiny bundle of brown fur is a baby stoat, barely four weeks old. We’re guessing that when she wakes up she’ll have little heart emojis instead of eyes.

It wasn't me

Do not under any circumstances leave your food unattended when out for dinner with a chipmunk. You look away for two seconds, and then…

Pettable predators

Tigers, lions, leopards: all three can be camera-breakingly cute as cubs, but they'd also cheerfully dismember you after a few years in the field. No cheetah has ever attacked a human in the wild, and it’s a nice bonus to be able to stare dolefully into this cub’s eyes knowing it definitely won’t come back and kill you or your family.

Red alert

It is not physically possible for ears to be more pricked up than this. Legend has it that if you say the word 'nuts' three times in front of a mirror anywhere in the world, this squirrel appears and demands to be fed.

Such a good boy

Happy golden retrievers are the standard against which all cute animal photos must be judged, and we only hope that someday something – anything – might make us as genuinely joyful as this dog. Serotonin levels off the scale.

Part panda, part rug

Pandas are bad at almost everything. They rely entirely on one specific food, have zero athletic abilities and have seemingly lost interest in breeding, much to the frustration of conservationists. But there is one thing they excel at – smiling sleepily while splayed out over a rock in the morning sun.

Say trees

A lemur family photo – complete with photographer in the foreground – we can only imagine how much arm waving it took to get this lot to squeeze into the frame. As any school photographer can tell you, you're always going to catch a few lemurs mid-blink.

Meerkat kits

This photo triggers our protective instinct on a really deep level. You can snuggle in peace little meerkats, you're safe now.

Doggo of the sea

This beaming ringed seal is basically an underwater Labrador with 95% body fat and no fur. It definitely wants a chin stroke, but we're not sure exactly where its chin is.

A noble steed

No news story on Earth can send the internet into overdrive like two animals from different species making friends. First, there was a baby monkey riding a pig; next, there was the gorilla who raised kittens; now, we present duckling on a dog. You're welcome.

Snowball with whiskers

How is this seal pup's head so perfectly spherical? Now that we've seen it we can't unsee it. It's like someone breathed life into the head of a snowman, its button eyes still in place.

A pugnacious penguin

Big Pete the penguin chick wants to know if you have a problem, and whether you were looking at him funny. His exasperated friend is telling him to "leave it", and that you are, in fact, "not worth it".

Nature's waterbed

In hit NBC show The Good Place, the recently deceased are welcomed to heaven with an ahh-inducing photo of otters holding hands while they sleep. And while the titular 'good place' was not all that it seemed, it got its otter facts bang on. Sea otters do sleep snuggled together to avoid drifting apart and yes, the results are adorable.

Who dares disturb my rest

We're getting strong "get off my lawn" vibes from this snow-white Canadian weasel, sticking its head out of its burrow with a face like thunder. Honestly, young weasels today have no respect.

Ready for their close-up

If cats are cute and kittens are cuter, Munchkin cat kittens must represent some sort of cuteness singularity. These two miniature moggies know exactly how to work the camera, and are probably absolute divas when they're not on set.

Candid quokka

This quokka is almost suspiciously cute. Its smile is a little too warm; its eyes a little too giving; its air of innocence too perfectly put together to be entirely plausible. Be on your guard.

Please sir, I want some... more?

In the Shrek movies, Puss in Boots uses his cute, limpid eyes to get whatever he wants. We don't know what this river otter is after, but we're quite sure he's going to get it.

Have tree, will sleep

Your sleepiest Sunday morning comes nowhere close to this snug-as-a-bug bear napping in the crook of a tree. Cosiness isn't a competition, but if it was, this koala would win.

Enjoying the meowment

Do not, under any circumstance, attempt to 'pspspsps' this Canadian lynx. No, don't... are you even listening?

Balance practice

We're pretty sure this little owl has just stubbed its toe. Either that or it's practising the pose from The Karate Kid.

Rodent on a rope

We... actually aren't quite sure what this is? A tree rat perhaps? Or some weird species of squirrel? Google says it's a sugar glider – "a small, omnivorous, arboreal and nocturnal gliding possum". Who knew?!

Australia's finest

While 90% of Australia's wildlife wants to kill you, the remaining 10% consists of outrageously cute marsupials that would make history's cruellest dictators go weak at the knees. This little fella is a northern quoll, and his eyes could melt all the snow on Mount Everest.

Feathered feels

If you're having a bad day, just remember that turtle doves mate for life and spend their twilight years preening each other's feathers.

Alpaca-lypse now

Alpacas are famous for two things: spitting unexpectedly at tourists and grinning sheepishly straight afterwards. Fortunately this picture focuses on the latter, and we can only hope the photographer stayed dry while taking this pic.

Eyes and ears

This delightful little desert-dweller is a fennec fox. It evolved those enormous ears to hear you say 'aww' at 300 yards.

An autumn adventure

There are four countries in the world with 'guinea' in their name – and guinea pigs aren't from any of them. These sausage-shaped rodents hail from the South American Andes, though we suspect this well-groomed individual hasn't seen a mountain in many generations.

An Antarctic argument

"I saw that sardine first Gerald – and what's more, you know I did."

Telling tales

This photo of cuddling kangaroos looks cute as can be – but on second glance we're not so sure. It has the air of a younger brother snitching on his older sibling – there's even smirking eye contact over mother's right shoulder.

Pika-boo

Meet the American pika – seven inches long (18cm), with a high, squeaky call and a face that maps perfectly onto the Disney logo. Unfortunately, they have some distinctly un-cute habits, as they survive winter partly by eating other animals' dung.

Kanga-who?

This Australian wallaby is in an inquisitive mood – but we're getting slightly aggressive vibes too. Maybe we just mistook him for a baby kangaroo.

It's a pig's life

This little guy has treated himself to a mud-based face mask, and gosh darn it, it suits him. Top marks for prioritising self-care, sir.

Much maligned

OK, OK – just hear us out. Dinner-plate eyes: check. Strokeable fur: check. Eight legs – yes, but in this photo you can only see four, which is the universally-agreed-upon cutest number of legs. It won't be for everyone, but we think this photo of a plaintive-looking jumping spider is strangely sweet.

Good companions

Dog-and-cat-pic-mania has been around much longer than social media. Entitled 'The Good Companions', these pampered pets were papped back in 1889 and are clearly the best of friends. So next time someone sends you an unsolicited pet pic, you can reply knowing you're taking part in a tradition that goes back generations.

Now have a giggle at the world's funniest wildlife photos