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Zoos Across the Country Are Doing a Cute Animal Tweet-Off and It’s the Most Adorable Thing Ever

Female gray seal pup, born Jan. 21 at 12:43 a.m. to mother Kara.
Female gray seal pup, born Jan. 21 at 12:43 a.m. to mother Kara.Jacqueline Conrad, Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Now this is a Twitter battle worth watching. On Wednesday morning, the Smithsonian National Zoo tweeted a photo of their newest addition — an as-yet-unnamed 5-day-old gray seal. When radio show host Sarah Hill challenged the Virginia Aquarium to rival the cuteness, they answered the call with a tweeted photo of an otter and an osprey. The National Zoo struck back — and hard! — with a photo of Redd, a Bornean orangutan infant. After two more exchanges, the Bronx Zoo got in on the action. With their photo of two baby tigers playing, the Bronx Zoo coined the hashtag #cuteanimaltweetoff and the rest is squee-worthy history.

Zoos and aquariums across the country, from Miami to Los Angeles and Nashville to Tucson, have since joined in. Scroll down for more cute animals than you could possibly handle.

Here’s the National Zoo’s first tweet:

And then came Sarah Hill’s challenge to the Virginia Aquarium:

The Virginia Aquarium’s response was swift:

But so was the National Zoo’s reaction:

The Virginia Aquarium wasn’t having it:

The National Zoo didn’t feel too threatened:

And then the Bronx Zoo stepped into the fray:

After that, Twitter exploded with adorable animal tweets from the official accounts of zoos and aquariums from across the country — and Toronto!

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