Adorable Baby Manatee

Baby manatee gets some exercise!

The undisputed king of cute under the sea and in the fresh waters of South America is the Manatee! These adorable, intelligent “sea cows” are considered “vulnerable” as a species and are under international protection. That’s why when the tiny Brazilian river manatee pictured in the gallery below was spotted by some local fishermen, malnourished and without his mother, they called in a local conservationist group to rescue the lost little guy. Cases like this one are usually due to over-fishing and habitat destruction in local rivers. Luckily for this little guy who was alone and underweight when he was found, conservationist groups make a big effort to rescue at-risk animals, nurse them back to health and return them to the wild when they are ready to make it on their own again. For now though, this tiny manatee gets to enjoy feedings from a bottle and the affection of some true baby animal lovers!

This baby manatee is being nursed back to health by bottle feeding

Cute baby manatee goes for a swim with mom!

Cute baby manatee goes for a swim with mom!

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A New baby Duiker!

Have you ever met an antelope named Todd? No? Well then you need to head down to the Virginia Zoo and meet its newest addition; a one-pound baby blue duiker who’s named just that! Born in late April the adorable blue baby duiker is one of the smallest and cutest members of the antelope family; reaching a mature height and weight of just 16 inches (40cm) and 12 pounds (5.4kg). Todd gets his name from some very silly zoo keepers but his species gets its name from the Dutch word for diver. Duikers are known to dive down into the underbrush when faced with danger. The blue duiker is native to Central and South America but, coming from Virginia and with a name like Todd, he sure sounds like he’s from the United States to us!

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Sea Urchins Grow Up Rough!

Getting older hurts, we all know it, but none of us will ever have it as bad as sea urchins do. Sea urchins, who are known for their spiny appearance, aren’t always such imposing little creatures. In fact, sea urchin larvae are barely noticeable and can often be found mixed in with plankton on the sea floor. During this time, they carry with them a “back pack” filled with their adult structures. It is unknown exactly what leads to the larvae maturing, but it’s known that the change in catalyzing in part by histamines, and that during the change the sea urchin literally turns inside out. So next time you’re upset about growing up, just think of how much worse sea urchins have it.

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There Will Be More Sea Lions!

Well folks, be happy, because the adorable sea lion pups you see in all these pictures are now more abundant than they’ve been in years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed a de-listing of the Steller Sea Lion from its endangered species list after their population numbers double to around 70,000 over th last 15 years. The steller sea lion can be found all over the western shores of North America, from California to Alaska, and is the largest the eared seals. Stellers were threatened by ocean pollution and extermination (fisherman believed that the sea lions were decimating their catches), but increased awareness efforts and protection laws have brought the species back from the brink of extinction. Take a look at some baby lions and smile because these little guys should be around and cute for years to come.

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The Bronx Zoo’s New Baby Giraffe

That is one really cute, and one really tall baby! Her name is Margaret; she’s already over six feet tall, and she’s one of the newest additions to the world famous Bronx Zoo in New York City. The zoo is known to name all of its female baby giraffes Margaret and all of its males ‘James’ in honor of Mr. And Mrs. James Carter; they were big donators to the zoo. Baby giraffes are born almost always singularly; they’re usually around six feet tall and around one hundred pounds when they enter the world. Margaret is expected to be renamed very soon, she also expected to continue beig adorable for a very long time.

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Nelson The Ugly Parrot Is Kind Of Adorable

Native to New Zealand, Kea are a breed of parrot that are known for their intelligence, curiosity, large size, and olive-green color; they’re also known for their ugly chicks. Once hunted because of their negative effect on livestock and now vulnerable for extinction, the kea is the subject of various conservation efforts, including zoos taking care of abandoned chicks like Nelson. Born at the Bergzoo in Germany, Nelson was quickly abandoned by his parents and left to die. However, officials at the zoo have taken it upon themselves to raise the young parrot who they describe as “a cross between an alien and a roast chicken”. Nelson is very strange looking at this stage in his life, and even seems to find his mirror image a bit weird, but he will someday find himself looking in the mirror at a handsome and majestic bird. For now though, Nelson will have to keep on being ugly…adorably ugly.

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Baby Hippo!

That adorable young gentleman in the photo above is none other than Harry the hippopotamus; an eleven pound pygmy hippo that was born recently at a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa. A resident of the Cango Wildlife Sanctuary who was abandoned by his mother at birth, Harry will never grow to be any larger than three feet tall and will probably never weigh more than a fifth of what a “regular” hippo does. Unfortunately for the rest of us and our love of pure cuteness, Harry is one of only a handful of pygmy hippos left in the entire world; there are only about three thousand left in the wild, as their population has been devastated by habitat loss. Pygmy hippos live predominately under water and are nocturnal, leaving the water at night to feed on leaves and grass, but never staying out for very long. According to handlers, Harry is a bit of handful, requiring round the clock attention. However, no one seems to mind paying attention to a baby animal as cute as him.

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Pedro The Fox Cub

Don’t adjust your screens folks, that baby fox is just as cute as you think it is; by the way, his name is Pedro, making him even more adorable. Pedro was found abandoned and shivering out of a UK suburb and was immediately brought to the Secret World Wildlife Centre, where he has been placed in an incubator and cared for ever since. Hours, maybe even minutes from death when he was first found, Pedro is now well on his way to a second chance at the fox life thanks to people like Sara Cowen, who responded to the intitial call that a dog-walker placed about hearing cries coming from a bush. Pedro is the smallest creature that’s ever been taken in by the reserve; plans are to hand rear him until he is ready to be released into the wild.

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The Birth of a Stick Insect

Have you ever wanted to know how gigantic bugs hatch? Well, here is your chance to watch a rare giant Australian Lord Howe Island stick insect hatching and getting started with life. It turns out to be quite a struggle for the poor green young crawler to get out of the egg.

The insects are in a special program to conserve their species at the Melbourne Zoo. They are originally from an island (Lord Howe Island) east of Australia but when their homeland (island) was invaded by black rats almost none of the giant stick insects survived the hungry rodents except for about 20 who somehow made it to another not-so-nearby island by unknown means. Everyone thought the species was extinct but later, when the few survivors were found, scientists did their best to breed some more and are trying to re-populate Lord Howe Island with the young ones shown in the video.

Adult Lord Howe Island Stick Insect also known as 'Tree Lobsters'

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Baby Seals: The Cutest Burglars Possible

Okay, we know that seals are wild animals, and that anytime you encounter a wild animal you should call authorities and have it brought back to its natural habitat, but we’d have some serious trouble not just putting a blanket on a baby seal if if broke into our home and took a nap on our couch. These adorable pictures were taken by a New Zealand woman who woke up one night to find that a baby fur seal had left the ocean, crawled across a highway, her fence, and through her doggy door in order to take a nap on her couch. Animal control experts were called in and they returned the new-born seal (who had just recently weened off of his mother) to the water. We commend the woman for not giving in and putting a blanky and an old-timey sleeping hat on the cute little guy and attempting to keep him; we would’ve had trouble not doing that.

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