This little guy is called quokka. They only live on a small part of Australia, and they're unbelievably cute! Just found out about them today
They’re famous for selfies. They look like they’re always smiling. People call them the happiest animals on Earth.
But when danger comes for their babies… They don’t fight. They don’t protect.
They throw their babies at predators and run.
That’s right — mother quokkas have been observed tossing their joeys out of their pouches to distract predators while they escape.
It’s brutal. It’s cold. But it’s survival.
Scientists call it “infant abandonment as a defense mechanism” — and in quokkas, it’s instinctive. The moment they sense they’re beieing ruthless does. jettison the baby and run for cover.
No last look. No hesitation.
Because in the wild, being cute doesn’t keep you alive. Being ruthless does.
I was wondering which part about them makes them dangerous or fucked up, given they're from australia. Thanks for providing the answer lol
They look like puppets and not real living wild animals.
Like Disney Animatronics
More pixels
You made him even more lovely thanks 😍
The island is called rottnest because the Dutch explorers thought they were rats.
This guy looks like Fozzie Bear waiting for the audience to react to one of his jokes.
Quokka Quokka
I found out about them about a year ago thanks to Lemmy, funnily
I was wondering why one of the Aussie instances was called quokk.au
Glad I promoted a curiosity.
And yet it's killed more humans than all the animals in Africa combined.
Are you sure you're not conflating it with the drop bear?
......this little guy??? Daaaaaamn!!!! Homie is hardcore, yo!
I'll have what he's having 😜
I feel like the picture needs it holding a knife to be believably Australian
Nah, if you need to know why they've been vanquished to Australia you just need to look into their defense strategy.
This is the reason for the sly smile
When a female quokka with a joey in her pouch is pursued by a predator, she may drop her baby onto the ground; the joey produces noises which may serve to attract the predator's attention, while the mother escapes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka#Description
Just gotta outrun babies, smart
*knoife
!taneggs@lemmy.ca
Thank you for bringing this to my life
robert irwin holding quokkas is literally my favourite thing in the world tbh
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