Top 10 Ugly Animals with Cute Babies

Have you ever looked at a baby and thought “Awww…it’s so cute! It’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen” and then looked at the parents and thought “Huh? Where did the kid get his looks from?”. Well, maybe it’s just an advantage of being a baby. Baby things are cuter than fully-grown things. Period. Even inanimate objects are cuter when they’re small – those little cans of Coke, or a tiny bottle of chilli sauce that we once owned. So it’s no wonder that the animal world produces some very cute baby animals.
What is amazing, though, is that some of the cutest ones come from the ugliest parents.  There are some spectacularly ugly animals out there, but somehow their little ones can draw an “Awww” from even the most cynical person. Just have a look at our Top 10 Ugly Animals with Cute Babies

10. Pigs

First up is the humble pig. There aren’t many creatures who can say they’ve given their name to a phrase about being ugly, but pigs…well, you could say they’re “pig-ugly”. Poor guys. It’s not easy having that turned up nose or an unflattering belly that drags along the ground. No wonder they’re shunned and bullied down at the farmyard.
But on the upside, their piglets are really cute! Just look at the two fellas above, with their pretend straw and blue-screen background. Dontcha just want to take them home? Feed them truffles and tickle their tiny tummies? You will, but only until they turn into grunting, bone-munching monsters.

9. Proboscis Monkeys

Now here’s an adult that’s been beaten with the ugly stick. The Proboscis monkey is a native of the mangrove swamps of Borneo and its unique digestive system gives it a comedy pot belly. Male Proboscis monkeys also have a particularly unattractive nose that’s meant to draw female Proboscis monkeys to them. It’s so big it hangs over their mouth and has to be pushed out of the way while eating. It also swells and turns red when they’re angry.
The females (pictured above) aren’t much better but again, their babies are just so cute! I like to think that the one in the picture is thinking “Is this going to be me in a few years? How does that happen? Should I start saving for monkey plastic surgery now?” Yes, baby monkey I’m afraid it’s true. And I can give you the number of a monkey plastic surgeon that’s very reasonable…

8. Elephant Seals

This seal pup – I think you’ll agree – is just adorable. It’s the kind of baby animal that adorned many a teenage girl’s wall in the 1990s (I don’t quite remember why…but we all had them). And many adult  seals are pretty cute as well.
Not the elephant seal. These 4000-kilo pinnipeds are obviously attractive to their own kind, as each male has its own harem of 40-50 females. But it probably wouldn’t be quite so successful outside the Antarctic, due to its unusual looks. It has the kind of nose that rivals even the Proboscis monkey, hence being named after an elephant. Only elephants are majestic and impressive, whereas the elephant seal is just a bit strange. Sorry seal pup, your modelling days are numbered…

7. Sloths

“Sloth” isn’t an attractive word, is it? It’s not even the prettiest of the 7 deadly sins. And adult sloths certainly aren’t the prettiest animals. They have claws that belong on a witch in a fairytale book, and half-open eyes that give them that perma-dazed look.  They live in the jungles of Central and South America, subsisting on leaves, when they’re not eating out of human latrines. 
They’re also home to a number of smaller lifeforms, including algae and moths. Lovely! But there’s no resisting the charms of this baby sloth – with his big, cute eyes and tiny claws, it’s positively huggable.

6. Komondor Dogs

Aww…puppies! Who can resist a puppy? This one is certainly a cutie but the adult komondor dog is just a hairdresser’s nightmare. It has matted, off-white dreadlocks and looks a little like a pinata gone wrong. It’s like the dog ran off with the toilet roll and then rolled all around in it, until the toilet roll became it’s fur. A beautician’s nightmare…and yet still a pedigree dog. The Komondor Club of America describes the komondor as a “sight to behold.” to mentions that komondors have won several top awards. Strange world, huh?
 

5. Hyenas

And now for the dog’s distant cousin, the hyena. If some ugly animals make up for it with personality, the hyena certainly isn’t one of them. Sure, it likes to laugh but you can’t shake the feeling it’s laughing at you, not with you. It’s a scavenger who would eat you alive, given half the chance, but prefers you dead to start with. If the hyena was a person, it would be one of those old ladies that beats kids out of her yard with a stick. It would never get invited round for dinner, because of its unnerving laugh and tendency to eat the other guests.
But even hyenas make cute puppies. And this one is giving its mom a hug! Awww… Mom looks like she’s tolerating it for now…but that puppy might scamper away pretty quickly when Mom’s mood turns nasty!

4. Camels

While we’re on personality, the camel’s not one you’d choose to associate with either, is it? It spits, it makes appalling snorting noises and if it has to give you a ride it’ll do so grudgingly. It’s no looker, either with its unappealing humps and prominent teeth. Sure, it’s a useful animal – it’s even gone to war many times, in the Middle East and Africa. And nomad tribes often drink its camel-milk. But it’s not the friendliest or the prettiest animal.
On the other hand, this baby camel is so cute and fluffy it could almost be a lamb. No sign of those humps yet either. But just you wait….once it hits puberty, its face will turn as ugly as its temper.

3. Platypuses

You’ve got to feel sorry for the platypus. Native of Eastern Australia, it was discovered by explorers in 1798, and the first reports sent back to Europe were met with cynicism. Most eminent scientists of the day believed the platypus to be a hoax.The zoologist Robert Knox thought it may have been produced by some Asian taxidermist, while his contemporary George Shaw attacked the dried skin of the platypus sample to check for stitches.
Even now, it’s the butt of people’s jokes. It gets comments like “Oooh, you’re proof that God had a sense of humor” and “Who designed you? A committee?”. It’s got the face of a duck, the tail of a beaver and it lays eggs. It’s a bizarre animal. And not, it has to be said,  a looker. But these babies are pretty cute in their own way, aren’t they? Just look at those velvety neck-folds and tiny claws. They wouldn’t win any prizes in a beauty contest, but you’d at least give them a cuddle.

2. Warthogs

Another unattractive name, another unattractive animal. The words “wart” and “hog” are pretty ugly on their own, but put them together and you’ve got one of the prime examples of an ugly animal. Is it the tusks? The seemingly superfluous mane? The waddle? Who knows.
In fact, its 4 wart-like protrusions come in useful for storing fat reserves and as a defense when males fight. The male warthogs tend to stick to fighting each other though – when other predators like crocodiles and cheetahs threaten them, warthogs turn and run.
Despite its ugly parents, mini-warthog is still a bit of a cutie. No wonder that their mothers fight to defend them from owls and lions. Although not big fighters, a female warthog defending her piglets can do enough damage to a lion that it’ll bleed to death. These wartpigs are cute enough to fight for!

1. Aye Ayes

Maybe the ugliest creature of them all, the Aye Aye has been described as looking like a gremlin but really, that’s a bit harsh on gremlins. The Madagascarn primate has huge ears, long bony fingers and freaky yellow eyes.It was thought to be extinct in 1931, but was rediscovered in 1957, though it is still considered “Near Threatened”. Part of the reason they’re under threat is that local farmers consider Aye Ayes to be evil and will kill them to avoid them cursing their crops. You can see where the evil thing comes from – the witchy fingers and demon-possessed eyes don’t make it look particularly friendly.

Despite all that, we can still raise a little “Ahhhh” for this Aye Aye baby. Cause he can fit in the palm of your hand! Enjoy the attention now, little one….no-one will think you’re cute when you’re all growed up…in fact, they may think you’re the Devil incarnate. Sorry, little one!