There are many many animals that could make a top 10, top 15, 16, or more list of cute animals. But it’s also good to have a nice simple and easy list of the top 16 cutest wild animals in the world. Those cute wild animals that we can probably agree are adored by just about everyone.
Fair to say, that even the cutest wild animals in the world are usually a little less cute in real life than they are in pictures. But humans are wired to see faces and features as attractive. For a number of reasons, not least because pictures, in particular, stimulate our nurturing instincts.
Unfortunately, it is hard to convey cuteness through the written word. But, if you’re looking for really cute wild animals then we think we’ve found the 16 cutest wild animals in the world. The pick of the crop.
Top 16 Cutest Wild Animals List
Let’s get straight into the list of the 16 cutest wild animals in the world! Or watch the video below from the Ranger planet YouTube channel, for our top 10 Cutest wildest animals!
1. Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
The giant panda bear is the most recognizable of all cute wild animals. Everyone loves pandas, due to their docile nature and cuddly look. The only time you’re likely to see a real-life panda in the wild is if you are really lucky.
These cute beasts are, for some reason, a source of a lot of debate when it comes to cute animals. Some people think they look kind of dopey and not all that cuddly while others find them adorable.
The truth is pandas are one of the seemingly cuddliest animals you would want to meet.
Additionally, you can add their related cousin red panda to this list too. Red pandas are perhaps one of the most interesting cute wild animals on this list. Red pandas are perhaps one of the most interesting cute wild animals on this list.
They are a bit similar to the size of domesticated cats, have a very short tail, and paws. They’re probably the nearest thing you will get to having a real teddy bear.
They enjoy eating mostly bamboo and live in trees, and are probably the nearest thing you will get to a real-life teddy bear.
It’s unfortunate that Pandas made our top 11 dumbest animals list too!
2. Long-tailed Chinchilla (Chinchilla Lanigera)
The long-tailed chinchillas are widely considered cute wild animals. With their furry coats and tiny ears. Chinchillas look like they are quite cuddly too.
They can be seen in a real-life setting in some forested areas of the Andes Mountains in South America.
Chinchillas live in groups and live off of leaves, fruit, and insects. Imagine that, a whole group of cuddly chinchillas in one cuddly bundle!
If you like chinchillas, then you might find red squirrels cute too!
3. Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris)
The red squirrel, or indeed the gray squirrel too are cute wild animals.
Whether it’s the big bushy cuddly tail, their big eyes, their tiny paws, or the way they act just make them look like they would be very happy to cuddle up under a blanket with you.
Squirrels can be cute to watch, and they can seem very naughty too when you see young squirrels chasing each other in the park. They really do make you feel like taking them home.
4. Black-footed cat (Felis nigripes)
The black-footed cat is a type of small wild cat. Their name comes from the black markings on their feet, and they are also sometimes called a “tiger cat”, but it’s not a tiger at all!
These small cats are one of the cutest wild animals as they look playful and cuddly as well as totally adorable. They are only about a foot in length …plus around 7 inches added for their tail. And between 1 lb to 1-1/2 lb in weight.
Black-footed cats are native to regions in southern Africa, countries like Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
Black-footed cats live in dry, open habitats such as desert, savanna, and scrubland.
They are also very good hunters for their size, and they make the traditional purring cat sound which is cute too!
Most of us love cute domestic cats right? So just like black-footed cats, bobcats look a lot like regular cats …but they’re real wild animals. So they count on this list.
Bobcats are one of the species of wild cats. They are agile, with excellent hearing ability, and have superb night vision for hunting.
6. Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)
Sea otters are very cute wild animals with a lot of character about them. This is the only species of animal that floats through its natural habitat by using air-sacs instead of fat.
Sea otters also eat clams and other mollusks by holding them with one hand, then prying them open with a rock. It’s very cute to watch.
Another cute thing about sea otters is that they hold hands while they sleep so that if one is attacked by a predator the other can help fight it off. They are so cute!
7. Fennec Fox (Vulpes zerda)
The fennec fox is recognized by its large ears and cute little foxy face. It features wide feet with thick, insulating fur.
Fennec foxes live in North Africa and the Sahara Desert. There are lots of interesting facts about fennec foxes you should explore.
The fennec fox is a nocturnal animal that uses its large ears to regulate body temperature during hot desert days and chilly desert nights. Find out what foxes eat here.
8. Squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus)
Our list wouldn’t be complete without at least one monkey species!
The squirrel monkey is a small species of new world monkey named for its large tail, which is typically about twice as long as its body.
A squirrel monkey inhabits forests, savannas, and rocky areas of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, and Trinidad.
It has gray fur on its head, shoulders, and back with black limbs and tail, and a yellow stomach.
The squirrel monkey has an extremely high metabolic rate to help it stay warm in the cool climate of its habitat.
Squirrel monkeys generally eat leaves, flowers, fruit, insects, and birds’ eggs. The mother squirrel monkey will carry her infant on her back. Which just makes them even cuter than they already are!
9. Tarsier (Tarsius spectrum)
The tarsier can certainly be considered cute by wild animals standards. This cute nocturnal animal inhabits Southeast Asia.
It has very big eyes and its body size ranges from 5-6 inches long, not including their equally adorable tails which are around 7-12 inches long! It also weighs about 3 ounces.
10. Emperor Tamarin (Saguinus imperator)
Our second species of monkey to make the lists. The emperor tamarin is cute in an old-school hipster way. It lives in the jungles of Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.
Compared to other monkeys it has a shorter tail that can measure up to 12 inches long! Emperor tamarins are very social animals that live in groups of up to 20 individuals.
11. Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Oh my goodness dolphins are so cute, and arguably bottlenose dolphins are the cutest of them all. I’m not sure if I’ve ever met anyone that disagrees with that statement. If you’re looking for cuddly-cute, look no further than the dolphin. That smile!
Dolphins are very intelligent animals and can be found in all of Earth’s oceans. It’s estimated that there are around 1-2 million dolphins in the world’s oceans.
12. Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor)
Little penguins are also called the little blue penguin, and are native to New Zealand. They are one of the smallest species of penguin. They stand at around 10 to 12 inches tall and about 5 pounds! Feeding mainly on fish, and other sea-going animals.
Penguins are also cute because they are known for their group huddles, also called “rafts”, where they huddle together to keep warm.
Also, the way penguins waddle when they walk is one of the cutest things in the world.
There are a number of animals that eat penguins, however, and it’s a shame to see what seals do to penguins!
13. Quokka (Setonix brachyurus)
Quokkas are around the size of an average domestic cat. It is a marsupial and is only found on two islands near Perth.
The island of Rottnest (off the coast of Perth) is their main habitat.
You could think of these as tiny kangaroos. They are very similar in nature, and they like to live in family groups.
14: Slow Loris (Nycticebus borneanus)
We also featured the slow loris in our slowest animals in the world list – for obvious reasons. They are very slow and docile creatures.
Their large eyes make them seem even more adorable. But beware, they actually have a toxic bite!
They are native to South East Asia, and their diet consists of mostly fruit. Slow loris can grow to be about 1 foot tall and weigh around 3 pounds!
15. Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Rabbits aren’t just kept as pets, they are in the wild too, so who wouldn’t adore a wild rabbit just as much as a domestic one.
Wild rabbits are very much like their tame pet cousins too, they’re small and cuddly. They do, however, have a tendency to take over any land that has been left unattended for too long.
This is because rabbits breed extremely quickly as they have quite a few predators.
As a result, rabbits can do a lot of damage when numbers grow in this way so farmers try to keep the rabbit populations down as much as possible.
Don’t forget to check our list of 100 cute rabbit names – and their meanings.
Last but not least, we have a bird that can fly on the list. There are so many cute birds to choose from, Robins, Puffins, Korean Crows, and many more. But we went for this one as the cutest…
16. Korean Crow-tit (Family: Paradoxornithidae)
These lovely birds really do look like small cuddly balls of white fluff! …They are mostly white with dark legs, dark beaks, and cute round eyes.
The Korean crow-tit are native to – yes you guessed it – Korea, and live mostly in woodland areas. They are part of the tit family of birds, which contains an extensive number of varieties.
These are usually small stout birds, around 4 inches long (10cm) with short bills, short legs, and a head crest on some varieties.
These bundle-of-fluff birds are proof that some wild animals are cute enough to make you want to take them home and keep them as pets! We all would!
Longer list of the cutest wild animals in the world
Also, these are just a handful of the cutest wild animals that we’ve selected, your list might be different. So to help you out, here’s the full and extensive list of the 30 cutest wild animals to start you off.
| Red panda | Quokka | Fennec fox |
| Margay | Sea otter | Fox (red or gray) |
| Flying squirrel | slow loris | Quoll |
| Ocelot | Capybara | Black-footed ferret |
| Snowy owl | Little penguin | Meerkat |
| Arctic fox | Dik-Dik | Red squirrel |
| Tree kangaroo | Greater bilby | Black-footed cat |
| Tarsier | Klipspringer | Pygmy owl |
| Robin redbreast | Elephant shrew | Pika |
| Mouse | Mangalitsa | Patagonian Mara |
More on the cutest wild animals in the world
There are in fact hundreds of animals that you could say are “cute”. So, as well as the above lists, one might even look upon the whole of the animal kingdom as being both “cute” and wonderful in its own way.
This also brings us on to more cute rabbits. So check out our 100 Rabbit names – along with their meaning. Or our 115 facts about dogs and puppies!
Next, you might also like some of our other similar top 10 type lists. Here’s a selection to take a look at
