Videosadorable-baby-animalsbig cat weekthird metric

HuffPost Live Celebrates Big Cat Week With Insanely Adorable Tiger And Lion Cubs (VIDEO)

WATCH: This Baby Tiger Frolicking Is The Cutest Thing You'll See Today
Open Image Modal
By 

HuffPost Live

National Geographic's Big Cat Week is in full swing, and to honor the occasion, big cat wrangler Boone Smith visited HuffPost Live with a precious baby tiger and lion.

While the six-week old tiger looks pretty cute and cuddly at this moment, Smith said this ball of fluff will grow up to be one of the largest cats on earth.

"Siberian tigers are the largest. Males can grow to be over 600 pounds. These guys are huge." he explained.

The cub's just beginning to evolve into the massive cat he'll go on to be.

"He's starting to be able to get around, a lot of strength and mobility," Smith said. "This is when they're at an age when they're super fun and playful, just adorable to watch."

Enjoy some incredible tiger cub cuteness in the video above, and watch more from HuffPost Live's segment with Boone Smith and his adorable companions here.

Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live's new morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!

Before You Go

Best Places to See Baby Animals
Leatherback Turtle Hatchlings, Trinidad and Tobago(01 of07)
Open Image Modal
See More of the Best Places to See Baby Animals

Leatherbacks are the world’s largest turtle, weighing up to 1,000 pounds and reaching eight feet long, and they’re also the oldest species of their kind, outliving dinosaurs. From March to August, approximately 6,000 leatherbacks journey to the shores of Trinidad and Tobago to nest. You can spot them along Matura, Manzanilla, and Grand Riviere beaches in Trinidad and Turtle Beach and Englishman’s Bay in Tobago (although contact the Forestry Division first for a permit). Or enlist a guide from conservation groups and eco-tour operators like Save Our Sea Turtles and Nature Seekers. Lucky visitors get to witness a birth, or see the one-inch hatchlings scramble into the ocean.

Photo: Nakita Poon Kong for Turtle Village Trust
Polar Bear Cubs, Canada(02 of07)
Open Image Modal
See More of the Best Places to See Baby Animals

Six hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle, the Churchill region of Manitoba is by far the most accessible place to spot polar bears. They gather along the headlands overlooking Hudson Bay each fall in anticipation of the water icing over—though that wait is getting longer, as the local climate warms. Churchill Wild offers a weeklong “Mothers & Cubs” safari at its Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, overlooking Hudson Bay. Sightings are never guaranteed, but last year they had a 100 percent success rate. Natural Habitat Adventures is another local operator; here’s the story of one traveler’s Churchill adventure.

Photo: Michael Poliza / Churchill Wild
Fur Seals, New Zealand(03 of07)
Open Image Modal
See More of the Best Places to See Baby Animals

From April to October, hundreds of native fur pups clamber upstream (yes, they really hike up rocks) to play in a freshwater pool fed by a raging waterfall. It’s like a seal daycare, as they happily splish-splash around while waiting for their mothers to return with dinner. The seals are used to being around humans and may even come right up and stick their nose on your camera lens. Take the easy 10-minute Ohau Stream trail located off the South Island’s Highway 1 to witness this natural marvel. It’s free, with no security and no guardrails. doc.govt.nz

Photo: Lanee Lee
Pygmy Marmosets, Peru(04 of07)
Open Image Modal
See More of the Best Places to See Baby Animals

Peru’s Cocha Salvador Lake is the place to witness the teeniest primates on the planet. Pygmy monkeys have babies so little (newborns weigh about half an ounce) that two can cling to a human’s finger. Founder Josh Cohen of Wild Planet Adventures—the only tour operator offering pygmy marmoset expeditions in the wild—recommends visiting during peak birthing seasons: May and June or November through January. Guides are specially trained to locate troops among the quassia trees and even have a special call to draw them out.

Photo: Bluedogroom
Giraffes, Kenya(05 of07)
Open Image Modal
See More of the Best Places to See Baby Animals

“I kissed a giraffe, and I think I liked it”—that could be the theme song of the Giraffe Centre, a conservation center on the outskirts of Nairobi that breeds and protects endangered Rothschild’s giraffe subspecies. From the viewing platform, put a pellet between your lips, lean out, and smooch. One of the giraffes from the tower roaming the 120-acre refuge will gently lick your face to retrieve the snack. Want more quality time with mothers and baby giraffes? Stay at nearby Giraffe Manor, where you can feed them from the dining room or your room’s window.

Photo: Lanee Lee
Baby Bottlenose Dolphins, Fort Myers, FL(06 of07)
Open Image Modal
See More of the Best Places to See Baby Animals

One of the world’s largest Atlantic bottlenose dolphin populations clusters just off the shores of Fort Myers. Spot calves in the spring, playfully leaping and twirling in the waters within their family pods. Take a dolphin cruise with Adventure in Paradise, or for an up-close encounter, go kayaking with Good Time Charters. Dolphin calves are very curious and often swim near the kayaks to say hello.

Photo: Brandon Cole Marine Photography / Alamy
Orangutans, Malaysia(07 of07)
Open Image Modal
See More of the Best Places to See Baby Animals

Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort, in collaboration with the Sabah Wildlife Department, has devoted 64 acres to the care of orphaned baby orangutans—an endangered species found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Twice a day, they come out to play and snack on fresh fruit. Watch from a platform amid the jungle as they leap overhead, swing on obstacle courses, and monkey around with the caretaker.

Photo: Lindsay Taub
Suggest a correction
|
Submit a tip