The 10 Cutest Animals in America’s National Parks
Get ready for adorable: These are the 10 cutest animals in the national parks, according to our scientific rankings. You know you can’t resist.
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Score: 7 (small: 1; fat: 1; fluffy: 2; indicative: 3). Yes, they’re huge eventually, but they start out oh-so-adorable. And those ears! Where to see them: Acadia, Denali, Katmai, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier, Glacier Bay, Grand Teton, Wrangell-Saint Elias, Yellowstone photo: Maarten Nijman/Flickr
Mike Boylan/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Utahcamera/Wikimedia
Robertbody/Wikimedia
Ahodges7/Wikimedia
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Charles Sharp/flickr
Inklein/Wikimedia
Joe Robertson/Wikimedia
Max Wilson/LesserPlaces
Choosing—and ranking—the absolute cutest animals in our national parks is a tough job, but someone has to do it. Luckily, our experts developed a rigorous scoring system.
The scoring system
Each animal was scored on a 5-point scale in four categories: Smallness, fatness, fluffiness, and regionality.
1= Not so much
5 = OMG we’re dying
Underlying assumptions:
1.) Smaller is cuter
2.) Fatter is cuter
3.) Fluffier is cuter
4.) Indicative of the region is cuter
Overall score is a total of the subscores.
The Results
#10: Moose
Score: 7 (small: 1; fat: 1; fluffy: 2; indicative: 3). Yes, they’re huge eventually, but they start out oh-so-adorable. And those ears!
Where to see them:Acadia, Denali, Katmai, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier, Glacier Bay, Grand Teton, Wrangell-Saint Elias, Yellowstone
#9 Dall Sheep
Score: 9 (small: 2; fat: 2; fluffy: 1; indicative: 4). No, you aren’t allowed to take the baby dall sheep home with you.
Where to see them:Denali, Kobuk Valley, Gates of the Arctic, Lake Clark, Wrangell-Saint Elias
#8: Kit Fox
Score: 10 (small: 4; fat: 1; fluffy: 3; indicative: 2). What is cuter than a regular fox? A smaller fox.
Where to see them:Arches, Big Bend, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Carlsbad Caverns, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Great Basin, Guadalupe Mountains, Joshua Tree, Saguaro, Zion
#7: Ringtail
Score: 11 (small: 4; fat: 1; fluffy: 4; indicative: 2). Fact: Ringtails are so cute, lonely miners used to keep them as pets.
Where to see them:Arches, Big Bend, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Carlsbad Caverns, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Great Basin, Guadalupe Mountains, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, Redwood, Saguaro, Sequoia, Yosemite, Zion
#6: West Indian Manatee
Score: 12 (small: 1; fat: 5; fluffy: 1; indicative: 5) This manatee wants two things in the world: 1. To be your friend; and, 2. A snack.
Where to see them: Dry Tortugas, Everglades
#5: Desert Tortoise
Score: 13 (small: 3; fat: 4 [shell counts]; fluffy: 1; indicative: 3) Watch out, this baby tortoise is coming straight for your heart.
Where to see them:Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, Saguaro, Zion
#4: Brown Bear
Score: 14 (small: 1; fat: 5; fluffy: 5; indicative: 3) Should you be scared of brown bears? Probably. Should you be scared of this brown bear? Only if you’re allergic to cute. Or if mama’s nearby.
Where to find them:Denali, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier, Glacier Bay, Grand Teton, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, North Cascades, Wrangell-Saint Elias, Yellowstone
#3: Yellow-Bellied Marmot
Score: 16 (small: 4; fat: 5; fluffy: 3; indicative: 4). Proud. Strong. Nobel. None of these words describe the marmot.
Where to see them: Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Crater Lake, Glacier, Grand Teton, Great Basin, Great Sand Dunes, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Mesa Verde, Sequoia, Rocky Mountain, Wind Cave, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion
#2: Sea Otter
Score: 17 (small: 4; fat: 3; fluffy: 5; indicative: 5) There is literally no fuzzier animal. You just can’t tell when they’re wet.
Where to see them:Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Lake Clark, Olympic, Wrangell-Saint Elias
#1: North American Pika
Score: 19 (small: 5; fat: 5; fluffy: 5; indicative: 4) The North American pika might be the cutest animal in the world. And that sound!!
Where to see them: Crater Lake, Glacier, Grand Teton, Great Sand Dunes, Kings Canyon, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion