Animal Mothers and Babies Photos

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Cheetah Mom and Cub, Botswana

Photograph by Chris Johns

"For a [female] cheetah the real danger is not losing a kill but losing her cubs. Ninety-five percent of cheetah cubs die before reaching independence. Hyenas kill them out of hunger, lions apparently out of bad habit. ... Female cheetahs deal with the threat by constantly moving, preferably before their rivals even know they're around. They coexist as phantom species, slipping into temporary vacancies between prides of lions and packs of hyenas."

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Cheetahs: Ghosts of the Grasslands," December 1999, National Geographic magazine)

King Penguin and Chick, South Georgia Island

Photograph by Robert Heil, My Shot

South Georgia Island has king penguins, and, in this location, there is a colony of a quarter million of the wonderful, colorful animals. Here a mother king penguin guided her chick, which still sports its somewhat comical-looking baby feathers.

This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.

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Orangutan Family, Indonesia

Photograph by Tim Laman

"A fistful of mother's skin and hair keeps one-year-old Bekti aloft as she rides on Beth, who is hurtling herself through the forest. It will likely be almost seven years before Bekti will have a younger sibling, one of the intriguing aspects of orangutans that has lured me [anthropologist Cheryl Knot] to Borneo to study their reproductive cycles and social patterns."

(From "Orangutans in the Wild," August 1998, National Geographic magazine)

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Tiger and Cub, Cincinnati Zoo

Photograph by Derek Dammann, My Shot

A young tiger cub gives his mother a hug. The cub is one of four male Malayan tigers born this year at the Cincinnati Zoo.

This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.

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Red-Necked Grebe and Chick

Photograph by Michael Gehrisch, My Shot

A newly hatched red-necked grebe relaxes, safe under mom's wing. It's been a long day and there's still so much to see.

This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.

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Bay Polar Bears

Photograph by Flip Nicklin

A low, orange sun shines light on a polar bear and her cub.

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Mother Wolf, Wichita, Kansas

Photograph by Joel Sartore

A Mexican gray wolf snuggles with two pups at the Sedgwick County Zoo. At one time, gray wolves were among the most widely distributed mammals on Earth. However, by the early 1900s, unchecked trapping, poisoning, and hunting of these highly intelligent predators drove the species to the brink of extinction.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Return of the Gray Wolf," May 1998, National Geographic magazine)

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Lioness and Cub, Kenya

Photograph by Marc Abrahms, My Shot

Taken on a recent trip to the Masai Mara in September of 2009.

This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.

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Baby Gelada, Ethiopia

Photograph by Michael Nichols

"Once they're three months old, geladas ride their mothers jockey-style. Females have just four or five babies in a lifetime but invest a lot of time and energy taking care of them—it's a 'quality, not quantity' strategy, says biologist Chadden Hunter, who has spent parts of the past six years with the animals in Ethiopia."

(From "Final Edit," November 2002, National Geographic magazine)

Kangaroo and Joey, Australia

Photograph by Robert Parviainen, My Shot

A kangaroo mum with her baby in the pouch. Taken at Hanging Rock, outside Melbourne, Australia.

This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.

Giraffe Mother and Calf, St. Louis Zoo

Photograph by Mary McClain, My Shot

Solstice is the name of the new baby giraffe at the St. Louis Zoo. It was born in December, on winter solstice. I was hoping for a shot of baby and mom nuzzling. While I waited (for almost two hours), the zookeeper told me I might never get a shot of that. I did, finally, get this shot, which I really like. Solstice is three months old in this shot.

This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.

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Wild Dog Feast, Botswana

Photograph by Chris Johns

Back from a kill, Bell, the breeding female of her pack, is greeted by 11 pups, anxious to nurse and beg a meal of regurgitated meat. African wild dogs dote on their young; this eight-week-old brood was left in the care of a pack baby-sitter—an older brother or sister—while mother hunted."

(From "Africa's Wild Dogs," May 1999, National Geographic magazine)

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Loango Hippos, Gabon

Photograph by Michael Nichols

A mother and her calf hippopotamus cool off in the "Land of the Surfing Hippos." Loango National Park got that nickname from the resident hippopotamuses' habit of swimming in the ocean and body-surfing to and from feeding grounds.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Gabon's Loango National Park: In the Land of the Surfing Hippos," August 2004, National Geographic magazine)

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Langur Monkey, India

Photograph by Michael Nichols

In an image taken by a remotely operated 35-mm camera, a baby langur monkey clings to his mother's chest in India's Bandhavgarh National Park. Photographer Michael Nichols set up the cameras to capture tigers in action, but the active langur monkeys tripped the infrared beam thousands of times a day, using up so many rolls of film that he had to adjust the timer to operate during "tiger time"—late afternoon, when tigers prepared for their nightly hunt.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Sita: Life of a Wild Tigress," December 1997, National Geographic magazine)

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Horses, England

Photograph by Sam Abell

"'Uncheckt shadows of green brown and gray,' poet John Clare wrote of the moors, land that 'never felt the rage of blundering plough.' On Exmoor, hedge banks faintly trace the far hill. Supporters hope they won't vanish over the horizon of time."

(From "Britain's Hedgerows," September 1993, National Geographic magazine)

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Grizzly Bear and Cub

Photograph by James Galletto, My Shot

A mother grizzly bear greets her cub.

This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.

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Mother and Baby Koala, Australia

Photograph by Vijai Kalathur, Your Shot

The mother and baby koalas decided to climb down from the tall eucalyptus trees to get a close-up look of the visitors to their home at the Koala Conservation Center in Phillip Island, Australia.

This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot.

Sea Lion and Pup, Galápagos

Photograph by Jack Burtt, My Shot

While hiking in the Galápagos among a colony of seals, we came upon this mother and pup sharing what appears to be a "tender moment."

This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.

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Tiger Carrying Cub, India

Photograph by Michael Nichols

"Jaws that can crush a backbone become a tender conveyance as Sita totes a cub to a new den, a constant chore to safeguard her young from leopards, wild dogs, and other tigers. Hiding cubs well is critical, since she may be away hunting for 24 hours or more. Sita is living proof that this endangered species can flourish if only given enough room and enough prey."

(From "Making Room for Wild Tigers," December 1997, National Geographic magazine)