In recent weeks, photos of the most adorable animal ever to exist have begun circulating on social media.
The quokka, aka ‘the happiest animal in the world’, is a marsupial that survives on a diet of plants and grows to about the size of a house cat. The animals can be found in Western Australia.
All of this was thrown into doubt earlier this month though, when pictures of the fluffy marsupials started going viral and prompted many to ask the question: is this simply too good to be true?
Are quokkas real? Or are they something that’s been conjured up by internet users just to brighten up our dreary Tuesday mornings?
Well, I’m here to brighten not only your Tuesday but your entire life, because quokkas are indeed real – and they’re as adorable as ever.
Fact-checking website Snopes looked into the matter after it received ‘questions about [the quokka] that some readers thought was simply too cute to be real’. The website concluded: ‘We can confirm that this is indeed a real animal.’
Quokkas inhabit island swamps and thickets off the coast of West Australia, mainly on Rottnest Island and Bald Island, as well as eucalyptus forests and riverbanks on the mainland.
Facts we might have already been aware of if we’d have been paying attention five years ago, when people’s selfies with the furry creature took over the internet.
You can check some of the selfies out below:
It seems that tradition didn’t stop in 2015 either, with hundreds of selfies with the adorable animals still taking over social media today.
In case you need some more pictures to brighten your day, here you go:
Well, there you have it. Turns out the most adorable animal ever to exist really does, erm, exist – so we can all relax.
Happy Tuesday, folks.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).