Every year a new animal is spotlighted for being “quirky” and “cute.” These animals range from fictional unicorns to previously not-well-known capybaras. Here’s a list of the most popular animals of recent years, how they earned that title, and their impacts.
2017- Unicorns
With the rise of fake mustaches, Galaxy Print, and emojis came unicorns. The unicorn originated in fourth-century Greece by the philosopher Ctesias. They were known to be large donkeys with blue eyes and a multicolored horn. Unicorns are known to appear in fantasy movies or TV shows such as Harry Potter or My Little Pony. The 2010 adaptation of My Little Pony is one of the reasons the unicorn came back into the limelight. Like most trends of the 2010s, the show gained popularity on Tumblr, sparking a new love for the unicorn.
2018- Wolves
In 2018, the book series Warrior Cats was popularized. This series sparked an obsession with “packs” and/or “clans.” With that came the popularity of wolves. Wolves are canines that were believed to originate in North America. These canines are known to live for nearly eight years and travel in packs of up to six to twelve members. These packs are part of the reason why they are so popular. Along with gaining traction on Tumblr, wolves also became popular on websites like Deviant Art and Roblox.
2019- Sea Turtles
On the app Tiktok, the popularization of “VSCO” girls came to light. These “VSCO” girls promoted scrunchies, Hydro Flasks, puka shell necklaces, and metal straws to “save the turtles.” This phrase made the sea turtles a prominent figure in 2019. Sea turtles were used as the face of the “Save the Turtles” campaign, a movement targeted toward stopping the use of plastic straws and the environmentally destructive pattern of plastic ending up in the ocean.
2020- Frogs
With the spark of indie kids in 2020, frogs came with it. These brightly dressed teens were obsessed with the idea of these “quirky” creatures. Frogs were the perfect brightly colored creatures to mascot this colorful phase. These insect-eating amphibians range in colors, going from bright greens to red and blue gradients. These animals are out of the ordinary and work well in coordination with the group of teens feeling like they are “out of the ordinary.”
2021- Axolotls
Along with the rise of frogs, indie kids found another colorful animal to latch onto. Axolotls are teacup-sized amphibians that range in color from black to bright pink. These animals originated in Mexico and soon spread to Europe and then North America. These water creatures gained recognition due to their appearance in Minecraft’s 1.17 update, gaining them widespread popularity.
2022- Capybaras
Much like the last three animals, capybaras found popularity on TikTok. These rodents are guinea pig-like animals and gained traction through a Russian song about the animal. This song gave the animal popularity. From this, memes involving the “silly” and “mischievous” animals arose.
2023- Sharks
Our final most popular animal of the year is the shark. Sharks are 8 to 40-feet-long animals that live all throughout the ocean. These animals became popular through Tiktok, its popularity spawned through the Ikea stuffed animal the “BLÅHAJ.” Due to the plushie’s “adorable nature,” it gained all the love it deserved.
