Who can resist that face?
Quokkas are marsupials that always appear to be wearing a smile on their faces. In fact, National Geographic points out that the quokka earned the unofficial title of “happiest animal in the world” a couple of years ago.
Tourists visiting Rottnest Island are bound to run into a few quokkas, as there are as many as 12,000 of the creatures living there. They are social animals that live in clans and eat a variety of plants.
They also hop like kangaroos, which adds to their cute factor.
So naturally, quokkas have become a major star in the selfie craze, inspiring the #quokkaselfie hashtag on Instagram.
But there is a downside to quokkas becoming so popular. The animals are considered vulnerable to extinction and it is actually illegal to touch the animals. Tourists tend to feed the quokkas food that is not safe for them to eat. And quokkas, being wild animals, do bite when provoked.
That hasn’t stopped giddy tourists from posing with the cute animals. Take a look for yourself.
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