The Magazine of The Sierra Club
Lovable Animal Mamas of Instagram
These are the accounts we'll be ogling on Mother’s Day
Oh, Mother’s Day—the Hallmark holiday that reminds us to hug our moms extra tight, write them a card, and help them relax. But we all know motherhood comes with no real water breaks or days off—and that’s abundantly true in the animal world, too. In honor of Don’t-Take-Your-Mom-For-Granted Day, we dug up some Instagram accounts that celebrate the amazing mamas of the animal kingdom. Take a gander, and consider sharing with your own mother, too. (After all, that text you sent probably wasn't enough… )
@creamy_the_giant_snail: Creamy is a giant African snail the size of your palm, and she’s getting ready to become a mom! Fun fact: each individual giant African snail has both male and female reproductive organs; however, it's extremely rare for them to become pregnant independently. We’re following Creamy with high hopes of seeing her babies soon.
@austinwildliferescue: This wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center in Austin, Texas, has been working to return wild animals to their natural habitats since 1977, and on rescue missions, staffers often come across mother-and-baby animal groupings. Warning: With its sweet close-ups of baby birds, racoon families, and the above possum mom, who carries her kids everywhere, you might never be able to stop scrolling through this feed.
@franslanting: Frans Lanting is an award-winning wildlife photographer for National Geographic, and his Instagram offers many a glimpse into intimate moments between mother and young in the wild. He’s photographed penguins navigating team parenting, elephants that embody the adage “It takes a village to raise a child,” and cheetahs trying to put up with their playful cubs. In the above post, a female bonobo is either rehearsing for motherhood or reliving her days as a young mom, playing with another female’s infant.
@ronan_donovan: Wildlife photographer Ronan Donovan’s Instagram account is chock-full of the people and animals he chances upon in Africa. In this post, Donovan reveals just how inspired he is by the child-rearing skills on display in the spotted hyena community, in which siblings often step in for the parents: “I was surprised by how doting hyena siblings were on the younger pups. Careful, playful, and firm when lessons were needed—but never overly aggressive—these hyenas taught me how they raise the next generation. I was pleasantly surprised, as I often am when confronted with how fellow social mammals rear their own.”
@joelsartore: Joel Sartore’s account is a haven for Instagram users who crave nothing but animal pictures in their feed. Sartore founded the Photo Ark, a 25-plus-year-long project for which he documented as many species as possible. He recently photographed his 8,000th species for Photo Ark. In this post, a mother pangolin and her little one pose artfully in their armors—which are made of the same material as our fingernails.
@amivitale: Ami Vitale, another Nat Geo photographer, shows photos of humans who lovingly step in as animal mothers in rescue centers and breeding centers. Here, a baby panda chews on a basket at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in China’s Sichuan Province. In such centers, panda caretakers have to act as second moms to dozens of panda cubs, because panda births are almost always twins, and the panda mothers can only care for one at a time.
@r.e.s.c.u.e: At the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya, elephant keepers also play the role of adoptive mothers, caring for orphaned elephant calves until they are ready to be released back into the wild. The sanctuary’s Instagram feed depicts the close relationships its keepers have fostered with their young wards, as baby elephants beg for more milk and enjoy trunk-cuddling sessions with their human parents.
