Heart-Warming Photos of Animals Cuddling

Michele Berger
Published: February 5,2015



 

For many areas across the country, particularly the snow-logged Northeast and parts of the Midwest, February started off chilly. Some places like Des Moines, Iowa, and Toledo, Ohio, dipped below zero. Some dropped into the negative double digits. Such frigid temperatures outside could make even the cold-hearted yearn to cuddle.
Lucky for us, a holiday celebrating cuddling is right around the corner: Valentine’s Day. For inspiration, we turn to the Animal Kingdom. Before you say anything, we know animals don’t set up next to a fire with their loved ones. They do, however, nuzzle and huddle and sometimes even hug and kiss. And several species have shown some tendency toward monogamy, even if it’s a different type of monogamy than humans seek.
“The ultimate purpose of life for each individual animal on Earth is to reproduce, and each individual that reproduces successfully helps perpetuate its species,” notes a National Science Foundation article about animal monogamy. “Building on these facts, some scientists believe that monogamy evolved in species whose members are more likely to achieve reproductive success through pair bonding than through promiscuity.”
Ok, so it’s not romantic, but at least it’s honest. Above, a slideshow to warm the heart: animals cuddling. Below, nine animals considered (mostly) monogamous.

1. Emperor Penguins

Emperor penguins are serial monogamists. (Christopher Michel/Flickr)

These birds are what you might call serial monogamists, faithful to their partners for a season, then moving on to another partner.This pattern may have evolved because of how the birds raise their young. First off, a females turns over her one egg to her male partner, who covers it with a skin fold. According to Australia’s Department of the Environment, this warms the egg to 38 degrees when outside temperatures dip as low as negative 35.
Then, when the chick is born, until it becomes independent, “it must be protected in its colony from the harsh Antarctic elements and from predators by one parent, while the other parent travels back and forth to distant seas to feed itself and gather food for the chick — dual responsibilities that a single mother could not possibly fulfill on her own,” writes Lily Whiteman of the National Science Foundation.

2. Titi Monkeys

Male titi monkeys are involved dads. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Male titi monkeys, adorable creatures found in South American countries like Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, not only stay with their female mates forever, but also stay quite in the loop when offspring come.“Not only are titi monkeys monogamous mates, they are also very involved dads,” writes Scientific American. “The babies often return to their mothers only to nurse; all the carrying and cuddling and retrieval is done by the dads.”
Plus they’re adorable, spending much time with their tails intertwined, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, who study primate pair-bonding and parenting. “In the wild, titi monkey pair-mates spend most of their time within sight of each other and a lot of it in physical contact.” And they exhibit distress upon separation from their partners.

3. Grey Wolves

Grey, red and Mexican wolves are all considered monogamous. (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP/Getty Images)

Grey wolves “are generally monogamous and live in packs led by a single pair of ‘alpha’ wolves,” according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. The operative word here is “generally,” Dieter Lukas, a University of Cambridge zoologist told weather.com last year. While there’s typically one dominant male and one dominant female that pair off and have pups, there’s nothing stopping one of the pair from mating with another adult nearby. “Wolf females can breed with a neighboring male,” he said.
These wolves aren’t the only species of canid considered monogamous. Red wolves and Mexican wolves also follow similar mating patterns.

4. Prairie Vole

Prairie voles mate for life and take an equally active role in raising young. (Diane Witt/National Science Foundation)

Prairie voles, rodents that look something like a cross between a large rat and a rabbit, mate for life and they take an equal part in raising their young.Perhaps it’s their special two-step mating ritual that bonds the pair for eternity? They first sniff each other, with the female trying to pick up a chemical in the male’s urine. Within 24 hours the female is ready to mate. Once the pair does, babies come three weeks later. After the female delivers her pups, the parents mate again, and then they’re hooked for life, according to Diane Witt of the National Science Foundation, who has studied these animals extensively.
A particular receptor in prairie voles’ brains — one whose length is said to determine whether animals will pair bond — is extremely long. “Those that have longer microsatellite regions … tend to have [what] you would want to call monogamy,” Witt told weather.com previously. “They stay with their mate, they invest more parent care, they tend to choose their mate over another mate.” The till-death-do-you-part is apparently not a vole thing, she added. Meadow voles aren’t monogamous.

5. Black Vultures

The color black and scavenging don’t typically signify love. But black vultures stay together forever once mating occurs. (Dawn Scranton/Flickr)

The color black and the scavenging vulture don’t typically signify love. But the black vulture — which relies on the strong nose of its turkey vulture cousin to find food — is one of the few birds that stays together forever once mating occurs. On top of that, this species has a strong family life once it has chicks.“Black vultures are monogamous, staying with their mates for many years, all year round,” notes Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. “They feed their young for as many as eight months after fledging, and maintain strong social bonds with their families throughout their lives.”
Even DNA fingerprinting has confirmed the birds’ fidelity. Researchers from Purdue University in Indiana studied 16 black vulture families. They found that the mom and dad birds stuck together year round, and shared incubation and nesting duties. By default, the scientists discovered a “mating system that does not deviate from strict monogamy.” Who says carrion can’t be sexy?

6. Cockroaches and Termites

Though cockroaches and termites may have serious ick factor for humans, they are pretty appealing to each other, choosing partners for life. (Jupiterimages)

You’d forgive us if we call these insects love bugs, particularly given their typical ick factor. Turns out, cockroaches and termites are monogamous.Some research has shown that termites are fairly choosy when picking a life-long mate. Females look at head width of their future partners; males focus on body mass. As for why they stay together forever, 2008 research suggests practical reasons: That it’s hard to find sufficient food and nesting material and that it’s risky to search for a new mate.
Even less is known about the why and how of cockroach monogamy (and maybe that’s not a bad thing).

7. Seahorses

Seahorses stick with the same mate for life. (Matt Chan/Flickr)

It’s a relatively well-known fact that the males of certain seahorse species are the ones that get pregnant. But there’s another intriguing aspect to their mating: They’re monogamous.That said, they’re not necessarily sexually monogamous. Rather, they’re genetically monogamous or one male produces offspring with one female — sometimes in spite of what one research paper calls “promiscuous courtship behavior.” And some species switch partners after a breeding season.
Either way, it’s still pretty awesome that the males do the child birthing. Just saying.

8. Mute Swans

Not only do these birds mate for life, but swans also mourn when their partner dies. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Swans are not the nicest of animals when you get near them, tending to hiss and exhibit aggressive behavior toward people — or anything that gets in their way.But these birds reportedly mate for life, according to Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. They’re also said to mourn when they lose a partner. 
That said, the mourning period doesn’t last forever. “Swans will remate if their partner dies. If a male loses his mate and pairs with a young female, she joins him on his territory. If he mates with an older female, they go to hers. If a female loses her mate, she remates quickly and usually chooses a younger male.” At least, it seems, these birds know how to pick ’em.

9. Beavers

While mom and pop beaver are a unit, they’re tight-knit, working together to take care of the kits. (finchlake2000/Flickr)

Beavers may mate for life, but if one of the pair gets removed from the population or dies, the remaining beaver moves on quickly. Or as the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation puts it, “the remaining member will readily accept a new mate.” Readily, indeed. While mom and pop beaver are a unit, however, they’re tight-knit, working together to take care of the kits — born with their eyes wide open, able to swim within a day — which stay with their parents for two years before being sent away from home.



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