Cute Overload: Pictures of Baby Animals To Make You Smile

The ten baby animals in these pictures are a giraffe, a panda cub, piglets, lambs, a young rabbit, emperor penguin chicks, a kitten, an elephant calf, a foal, and a fox. Take a short break and enjoy this #CuteOff of cute baby animals. Read more about the 10 cutest baby animal pictures.

Cute Baby Giraffe In The Golden Light

This young giraffe is standing in the last of the sunshine. Its life began with a drop. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says a calf is born front feet first, the umbilical cord of about 3 feet breaks, and the calf falls to the ground. In the zoo's words, "The fall and the landing don't hurt the calf."

The zoo says young giraffes can eat leaves at four months old, but they keep nursing until they are six to nine months old. Read more about endangered giraffes.

A Sleeping Panda Cub In An Incubator

This panda cub is asleep inside a clear incubator, and it already has black and white fur. PBS Nature compares a newborn panda to a stick of butter: it weighs about 3 to 5 ounces, roughly 1/900th of its mother's size.

The Smithsonian's National Zoo describes a newborn cub as pink, hairless, and blind. Cubs do not open their eyes until they are 6 to 8 weeks old and are not mobile until they are 3 months old, and a cub may nurse for 8 to 9 months.

Give A Smile For These Little Piglets

A reddish-brown piglet looks straight at the camera here, with black piglets lying in the hay beside it. A Kansas State University report from Swine Day 2017 followed 412 pigs from 30 sows. It found that pigs that were heavier at birth took in more colostrum, the first milk, and that pigs born in the last half of the litter had lower immunocrits, a measure of antibodies in the blood.

Pictures Of Baby Animals: Sweet Lambs In The Grass

One lamb stands and stares at the camera while the other lies in the grass. Researchers tested lambs at 12, 24, and 48 hours after birth. A 2011 paper in Bioacoustics found signs that lambs could tell their mother's bleat from another ewe's voice within a day. At 48 hours the lambs spent significantly more time near their mother than near an unfamiliar ewe.

South Dakota State University Extension says newborn lambs should get at least 1 to 2 ounces of colostrum per pound of body weight within 12 hours of birth, and that by 24 hours a lamb's ability to absorb antibodies is near zero. It adds that a newborn lamb has a special fat reserve for energy that is used up within a few hours after birth.

Take A Look At This Curious Little Bunny

This young wild rabbit sits among the leaves with one ear up. The species in the photo is not named. A 2016 review in Hormones and Behavior on the European rabbit says nursing is the only mother-young contact throughout lactation. It happens once a day, inside the nest, and lasts around 3 minutes.

A 2020 paper in Chronobiology International says the mother leaves the young right away and only returns to nurse for a few minutes about once every 24 hours.

George B. Rose reported mortality rates of tagged adult cottontail rabbits, according to a study in the Journal of Wildlife Management in 1977.

Here Stand 2 Adorable Emperor Penguin Chicks

Two fluffy chicks with black heads and white face patches stand side by side on the snow. The Australian Antarctic Division says emperor penguins are the only animals that breed during the Antarctic winter, and that only the males take on the incubation duties.

To keep warm, the males close ranks. On the coldest days a huddle can squeeze up to 10 males into one square metre, the division says, and huddling cuts heat loss by as much as 50%.

Sleepy Cream Kitten On Its Back

This cream kitten sleeps on its back with its tongue just showing. VCA Animal Hospitals says kittens are born with their eyes closed and most open them within seven to fourteen days. They should double their birth weight in about one week, and during the first two weeks of life they should eat or sleep 90% of the time.

See the Cat tee designs in the AnimalHearted shop.

The Cat Fanciers' Association says Siamese generally darken with age. Read more about the Siamese cat.

Get Your Day Going With This Little Elephant Picture

This elephant calf is running with its trunk up and its tail raised. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says that when an elephant senses danger, the herd forms a protective ring called an alert circle, with the youngsters in the middle and the adults facing out. By the time calves are two to three years old, the zoo says, they no longer need to nurse.

The zoo also says the largest elephant on record, an adult male African savanna elephant, weighed about 24,000 pounds and stood 13 feet tall at the shoulder. In the zoo's words, "Most elephants don't get that large."

Happy, Pretty Foal

This chestnut foal is galloping through a meadow of yellow flowers. Dr. Leslie Easterwood of the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences says, "The foal should stand within one hour, it should begin to nurse within two hours, and the placenta should be passed within three hours."

The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine says a horse pregnancy typically lasts around 342 days, and that foals can only absorb IgG antibodies during their first 18 to 24 hours of life. Read more about cute baby horses.

Fox Kit Says Hello, World!

A baby fox is called a pup or a kit. The National Wildlife Federation says pups, and Humane World for Animals says kits. The National Wildlife Federation says red fox pups are born brown or gray and usually turn red within about a month, and that both parents take care of them until the next fall.

Read more about cute animal photos.

FAQ

Is it ok to redistribute these photos?

No. Please do not copy or reuse these photos.

Can I adopt baby animals?

For a wild baby animal, no. Humane World for Animals says fox kits often appear alone for long periods while their parents hunt, and that if the kits seem energetic and healthy, you should watch from a distance and leave them alone. To adopt a pet, start at a shelter. Read more about adopting a shelter pet.

Can I hold baby animals?

For an uninjured baby animal, leave it where it is. Humane World for Animals calls it a myth that a bird will reject its young because a person touched them. It adds that mother rabbits visit their dependent babies only a few times a day, so predators do not notice them. For a baby squirrel that fell from the tree today and is in a safe place, it says to give the mother a chance to reclaim her young. If the baby is uninjured, it says to leave the baby where it is, leave the area, keep people and pets away, and monitor from a safe distance. Read more about what to do if you find a baby squirrel on the ground.

Sources

• San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Giraffe. animals.sandiegozoo.org.
• San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Elephant. animals.sandiegozoo.org.
• PBS Nature. Panda Fact Sheet. pbs.org.
• Smithsonian's National Zoo. Giant Panda. nationalzoo.si.edu.
• Morton, Langemeier, Rathbun, Davis. Split Suckling, Birth Order, and Birth Weight Affects Colostrum Intake and Pre-Weaning Weight Gain. Kansas State University Swine Day, 2017. journals.newprairiepress.org.
• Sebe F, Aubin T, Nowak R, Sebe O, Perrin G, Poindron P. How and when do lambs recognize the bleats of their mothers? Bioacoustics, 2011. tandfonline.com.
• South Dakota State University Extension. Newborn Lamb Care and Management. extension.sdstate.edu.
• Regulation of the rabbit's once-daily pattern of nursing: a circadian or hourglass-dependent process? Chronobiology International, 2020. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
• Hormones and Behavior, 2016. Review of maternal behavior in the European rabbit. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
• Rose GB. Mortality Rates of Tagged Adult Cottontail Rabbits. Journal of Wildlife Management, 1977. jstor.org.
• Australian Antarctic Division. Emperor penguin. antarctica.gov.au.
• VCA Animal Hospitals. Raising Kittens. vcahospitals.com.
• Cat Fanciers' Association. Siamese. cfa.org.
• Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Horse foaling. vetmed.tamu.edu.
• Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Foal speed ahead: caring for a newborn horse. vet.cornell.edu.
• National Wildlife Federation. Red Fox. nwf.org.
• Humane World for Animals. How to Help Orphaned or Injured Baby Wild Animals. humaneworld.org.