The most heart-warming tweets EVER: Zoos post painfully adorable snaps of their animals in a Twitter battle to see which has the cutest creatures
- Contest erupted on Wednesday after a seal pup was born at the Smithsonian Zoo
- Other zoos followed the announcement with #CuteAnimalTweetOff snaps
- Contenders include a cheetah cub, a baby panda and a miniature turtle
A new hashtag has been born and it's easy to see why it's been trending.
Zoos from across America have been battling it over social media by sharing snaps of their most adorable critters, tagged '#CuteAnimalTweetOff'.
Submissions have included everything from a baby cheetah at Cincinnati Zoo, to a tiny turtle with its flippers outstretched at the Virginia aquarium.
The face that launched 1,000 tweets: It all started after a photo of Smithsonian's National Zoo's newest seal pup was re-tweeted by a reporter
The challenge evolved on Wednesday after the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Life Center was tasked with posting a photo to compete with Smithsonian's National Zoo’s newest seal pup in Washington DC.
A battle swiftly ensued as animal facilities around America seized on the opportunity to showcase their most endearing creatures.
There was a cheetah cub from Cincinnati, a baby panda from Zoo Atlanta, and an elephant from Arizona's Reid Park Zoo; among plenty of other mammals.
A handful of reptiles made the cut, too.
Virginia Aquarium was tasked with posting a photo to compete with the Smithsonian's seal, which it did by tweeting '#challengeaccepted - an otter/osprey combo'
The same aquarium followed up with a tiny sea turtle, captioned: 'Don't worry, we're still here'
Tennessee Aquarium raised the stakes with a miniature chameleon on its very own souvenir - a toy chameleon on a pencil.
And San Diego Zoo entered the fray with a mossy-leaf-tailed gecko smaller than the tip of a finger.
Here, MailOnline Travel has rounded up the contenders.
Cincinnati Zoo unleashed this little one onto the world, tweeting: 'Welcome this cozy cheetah cub to the #CuteAnimalTweetOff'
Arizona's Reid Park Zoo tweeted a baby elephant with the caption: 'We'll just leave this little bit #squee right here'
Zoo Atlanta entered the fray with a near-criminally cute photo of a tiny fluffy panda bear
Los Angeles Zoo also got on board with a snap of its baby chacoan peccary trotting merrily along
Denver Zoo shared this with the caption: 'Wait, everyone! Our #redpanda cub wants to be included'
Seattle Aquarium shared an otter curled up and hugging its tail, seemingly snoozing away
Competition was seriously heating up when New York's Queens Zoo submitted this pudu fawn, with the caption: 'Ahem, the world's smallest deer checking in'
Reid Park Zoo volunteered another submission, this time a lion cub in a bucket captioned: 'It's not a competition, but...'
Neighbouring Bronx Zoo rose to the challenge with a glorious pair of sparring tiger cubs
Smithsonian's National Zoo also shared an image of this teeny-tiny fellow having a big yawn
Point Defiance Zoo in Washington were keen to elbow in on the action with a photo of four clouded leopard babies, along with the hashtag #savingspecies
Los Angeles Zoo came forward with another image, of a sloth clutching a flower with the caption: 'I got here as fast as I could...'
It followed that with another, stating: 'Ziggy the harbor seal pup just made her debut at the LA Zoo yesterday!'
The National Aquarium in Maryland wasn't far behind with its snap of 'Megatron the rescue seal'
The Smithsonian's zoo still wasn't finished when they posted another snap, captioned: 'This is Redd, our endangered Bornean orangutan infant. And he is the cutest. Do you fold yet?'
The Elmwood Park Zoo in Pennsylvania submitted this red panda, inquiring: 'Excuse me, can I get in on this, too?'
Tennessee Aquarium raised the stakes with a miniature chameleon on its very own souvenir
And San Diego Zoo made sure at least one reptile made the cut with this mossy-leaf-tailed gecko
Most watched News videos
- Pizza Hut customer finds workers in the back of empty restaurant in Bristol
- Graphic: NZ Breakers player's eye dislodged in horrific injury
- Heartwarming scene as Grayce shares her puppies with owner
- Shocking CCTV shows car speed into Humber Bridge barrier
- A close look at the huge crack formed across Arizona desert
- Florida couple passed out in their car with two children in the backseat
- Enraged man punches laptop and quits job during 'meltdown' at airport
- Trump calls Islamic State 'sneaky, dirty rats' during Hannity interview
- Seaman captures scariest moments from being on North Sea
- Theresa May receives huge ovation at Republican convention
- Russian roulette taser game proves a hit in San Francisco bar
- Dangerous driver overtakes at red light for absolutely no gain