The Nashville Zoo is absolutely chockfull of cute critter cubs and it’s killing us

Happy Monday, Watchers! The Nashville Zoo is bursting with babies this month. The zoo has recently highlighted some truly adorable critter children in social media posts, and we are here for it. Let’s review some of the zoo’s recent arrivals.

First up on the cuteness review is a Clouded Leopard Cub named Gemma, born July 18 to parents Jewels and Bruce. Gemma is part of a truly rare breed at this point; the clouded leopard population is rapidly declining, with the wild population identified as Vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red list. The species’ biggest problems in the wild are habitat destruction and poaching, with their habitat experiencing “the world’s fastest rate of deforestation.”

Gemma’s survival is a critical priority right now for the Nashville team; she’s been hand-reared in their HCA Healthcare Veterinary Center per recommendation from the AZA’s Species Survival Plan (SSP). But even at two months old, Gemma’s new bestie has already been picked out for her — Meru (a male cub from the Fort Wayne zoo) was transferred to Nashville as an SSP pairing. The two cubs will be raised together to form early bonds important to future mating success, under the watchful eye of Nashville’s strong team (who have 45 cub births in the last 34 years under their belts). And Gemma’s already getting in some practice at keeping Meru in line.

But hot on the heels of Gemma and Meru come two new arrivals transferred from another zoo — a brother-sister pair of aardwolf pups recently relocated to Nashville from the Safari Wild Animal Park and Preserve in Como, Mississippi. The rare babies were transferred at just 14-weeks old after the Mississippi team reached out to Nashville for assistance in hand-rearing the pair. The species is already rare to see in zoos, as they are “historically… difficult to breed and raise.” A member of the hyena family, the species is native to the savanna and grasslands of southern and Eastern Africa. Despite their classification as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN, they are still subject to habitat loss due to land development.

Like Gemma and Meru, the aardwolf pair will be raised in the Veterinary Center. Also like the clouded leopards, their precious patterns and little snouts are not to be denied. They’ve already shown some pretty extreme adorableness during playtime and seem equally happy to boop their way into your Instagram feed.

Nashville’s final fresh entry is a spotted fanaloka pup, just born August 24! Nashville is the only zoo in the United States to house the species, and the new baby is only their fourth fanaloka birth. Fanlokas are in the “small but dangerous” category in their native Madagascar, where they are happy to chow down on pretty much anything. However, they are also classified as a Vulnerable species by IUCN, primarily due to habitat deforestation and destruction.

This is the newest baby of the three species and will also remain in the Veterinary Center (albeit in the nursery), where they are already working that tiny cuteness to the max. Hopefully, we get to look forward to more precious pictures.