America’s zoos are doing a ‘cute animal tweetoff,’ and it’s amazing

It all started on Wednesday when the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., tweeted a picture of a gray seal pup that melted hearts across the Internet.

We welcomed a gray seal pup Jan. 21. The pup appears to be nursing, moving & bonding well w/ mom. https://t.co/l0Bzu7g8ek #Squee pic.twitter.com/nEhuJe6vBk

— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) January 25, 2017

In no time at all, other zoos and aquariums from around the country began tweeting pictures of their cutest animals to try to top the National Zoo’s cuteness, beginning with the Virginia Aquarium:

@SarahJanetHill #challengeaccepted We see @NationalZoo 's seal pup, and raise an otter/osprey combo. pic.twitter.com/D9zDWXxuDb

— Virginia Aquarium (@VAAquarium) January 25, 2017

From there, it was off to the races, as zoos across America made the trend viral using the hashtag #cuteanimaltweetoff.

The Queens Zoo had a strong entry with the “world’s smallest deer” checking in:

@VAAquarium @phillyzoo @ZooATL @BronxZoo @SarahJanetHill Ahem, the world's smallest deer checking in for the #cuteanimaltweetoff. #pudu pic.twitter.com/b4sZbQTz56

— Queens Zoo (@thequeenszoo) January 25, 2017

The Atlanta Zoo opted for a baby panda:

@SarahJanetHill @VLMuseum @BronxZoo @sandiegozoo @sfzoo @phillyzoo @PhoenixZoo @zoomiami We're always down for a #cuteanimaltweetoff! pic.twitter.com/hmkYOLBjrx

— Zoo Atlanta (@ZooATL) January 25, 2017

The Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, S.C. offered an extremely relaxed bear:

Just chillin'! #cuteanimaltweetoff pic.twitter.com/zR4RPNq9tX

— Riverbanks Zoo (@RiverbanksZoo) January 26, 2017

Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo featured an extremely cute baby white rhino:

We're "crashing" this #cuteanimaltweetoff with baby Southern white rhino, Kipenzi! @NationalZoo @SarahJanetHill #tlpz pic.twitter.com/mJFbJt5ARJ

— Tampa'sLowryParkZoo (@LowryParkZoo) January 26, 2017

By Friday, dozens of zoos had joined in possibly the greatest Twitter war ever, including zoos from across the globe. For instance, the Berlin Zoo:

#CuteAnimalTweetOff Berlin enters the ring. Here comes our veiled chameleon baby Charly from the #AquariumBerlin pic.twitter.com/vsBdAoSx5q

— Zoo Tierpark Berlin (@zooberlin) January 27, 2017

Entries are still rolling in from around the world. Of course, the Internet would not be the Internet if some people could not find a reason for controversy even in a contest about cute animals.

Most (all?) of the animals in the #cuteanimaltweetoff tweets are in zoos, where animals should not be, cute or otherwise.

— S (@TheShiftyShadow) January 27, 2017

#cuteanimaltweetoff cute, but are these animals happy? They belong in the wild! #cutepettweetoff! #endzoos pic.twitter.com/Pw49fnFvTz

— Awesomeness (@gazeofamuse) January 27, 2017

For the most part, though, the Internet is reveling in the awesomeness of cute animals, and even animal shelters are getting into the game.