When it comes to cute animal pictures, there's no beating this
cheeky creature, who may as well have wandered straight out of a
feel-good kids' movie.
Meet the Quokka, a marsupial that seems to have come straight from
an animator at Disney, but is actually native to a small corner of
southwestern Australia.
Unlike a frightening numbers of Australian animals, the Quokka
poses no threat to humans, and -- as these pictures make abundantly
clear -- can be quite friendly.
That friendliness may partially explain why, according to the Perth
Zoo, the once plentful Quokka was drastically reduced in
number after the dingo and foxes found their way to Australia.
The animal is currently listed as "Vulnerable", according to
the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Thanks to conservation
efforts and fox control programs, their populations are recovering
in some areas.
