It’s not often that a little-known animal becomes a social media star, but that’s exactly what happened to a smiling Australian creature called a quokka. After tourists began posing for social media photos with the confident little animal, the quokka’s friendliness began earning it popularity worldwide.
Quokkas are cat-sized marsupials that mainly live on small islands in Western Australia. Its name comes from a similar-sounding native Australian word. Quokkas have short brown or gray fur, small ears, and a unique mouth that makes them appear to be smiling! Its appearance has led some to describe quokkas as the world’s happiest animals.
Naturally active at night, quokkas will eat during the day if they can find food. They prefer eating grasses and plants, which is also how they get their water. When food is scarce, they rely on fat stores in their tails to survive.
Quokkas are eager to start their own families, and females give birth just one month after mating. As with kangaroos, another type of marsupial, mother quokkas carry their babies in a pouch until they become independent, which for baby quokkas is around six months old.