--- description: In what might be the adorable online beef of all time, zoos around the country bantered in a Cute Animal Tweet Off. title: Zoos Have a Twitter Showdown to Find the Cutest Animals image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This #CuteAnimalTweetOff Between Rival Zoos Is the Most Adorable Online Beef You'll Ever See  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 27, 2017 6:54 PM CUT  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 27, 2017 6:54 PM CUT [Twitter beefs](http://time.com/4204997/kanye-west-and-wiz-khalifa-twitter-battle/ "undefined") have a reputation for getting aggressive, and [at times, downright nasty](http://time.com/4555173/jon-stewart-donald-trump-twitter-stand-up/ "undefined") on the Internet, but that wasn’t the case with a friendly (and adorable) online beef between zoos across the country. It all began when the Smithsonian’s National Zoo tweeted out a picture of a newborn gray seal pup. A Twitter user named Sarah Hill from Virginia challenged the Virginia Aquarium to up the ante by showing their own adorable animals. The VA Aquarium complied, sending the National Zoo a picture of an otter and an osprey, igniting a playful competition that grew to epic proportions when the Bronx Zoo joined in and tagged seven other zoos and added the phrase #cuteanimaltweetoff. Subsequently, the Internet was flooded with tons of pictures of adorable animals, [making this one Twitter beef we heartily endorse](http://time.com/4552214/koch-bernie-sanders-twitter-star-wars/ "undefined"). See the best of the tweets from #CuteAnimalTweetOff below. > [](https://twitter.com/NationalZoo/status/824257095281295360) > [](https://twitter.com/SarahJanetHill/status/824265522015518721) > [](https://twitter.com/VAAquarium/status/824271514870620160) > [](https://twitter.com/NationalZoo/status/824281380150505473) > [](https://twitter.com/VAAquarium/status/824286376048861185) > [](https://twitter.com/NationalZoo/status/824295976768851973) > [](https://twitter.com/BronxZoo/status/824283709222305792) > [](https://twitter.com/ZooATL/status/824284174924349442) > [](https://twitter.com/phillyzoo/status/824295090415960066) > [](https://twitter.com/zoomiami/status/824295751761137665) > [](https://twitter.com/AquariumPacific/status/824332144088449024) > [](https://twitter.com/LAZoo/status/824337241379991552) > [](https://twitter.com/ReidParkZoo/status/824350279042674688) > [](https://twitter.com/sandiegozoo/status/824358531314884608) > [](https://twitter.com/TNAquarium/status/824298682711478272) > [](https://twitter.com/NatlAquarium/status/824301181690331137) > [](https://twitter.com/GeorgiaAquarium/status/824301537262501888) > [](https://twitter.com/marylandzoo/status/824362308445028356) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4652047/zoos-cute-animal-tweet-off/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4652047/zoos-cute-animal-tweet-off/"},"headline":"This #CuteAnimalTweetOff Between Rival Zoos Is the Most Adorable Online Beef You'll Ever See","datePublished":"2017-01-27T18:54:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:32.851Z","description":"Peak cuteness","url":"https://time.com/4652047/zoos-cute-animal-tweet-off/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","animals","Internet","twitter","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4652047/zoos-cute-animal-tweet-off/","name":"This #CuteAnimalTweetOff Between Rival Zoos Is the Most Adorable Online Beef You'll Ever See"}}]}] ```