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One odd genre of fake photographs we encounter often involve stuffed animals or toys passed off as real animals. For instance, the world's cutest rodent, this short-tailed weasel, this zunzuncito bird, this adorable bunny, and this Giant Japanese Emperor Moth are all human-made objects that have been mistaken for real animals. In March 2020, we started receiving questions about another animal that some readers thought was simply too cute to be real: the quokka. Photographs of the quokka are frequently shared with captions such as the happiest animal on earth. While we have found no surveys measuring the happiness of the world's animals, we can confirm that this is indeed a real animal. The quokka (Setonix brachyurus) is a member of the marsupial family that lives in Western Australia. These small wallabies can climb trees, survive on a diet of plants, and are about the size of a house cat. The Australian Museum writes: As stated in the quote above, quokkas are commonly found on Rottnest Island, off the western coast of Australia, where they've become a tourist attraction. In 2015, National Geographic published an article about the popularity of taking selfies with quokkas: We've collected a few additional quokka photographs from Instagram users such as @cambojones2020 and Suzana Paravac. The quokka is often referred to as the happiest animal on earth because the critters are frequently photographed with what looks like cute little natural grins. These animals are also relatively docile and friendly with humans. It should be noted, however, that a few quokka-selfie-takers have been rewarded with quokka bites. The quokka isn't the only muppet-like animal walking the earth. We've also received questions from readers wondering if real animals, such as the Shoebill stork, the Malabar Giant Squirrel, and the Hammerhead Bat, were indeed of this world.
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