The quokka, aka ‘the happiest animal in the world’, is a marsupial that survives on a diet of plants and grows to about the size of a house cat. The animals can be found in Western Australia. All of this was thrown into doubt earlier this month though, when pictures of the fluffy marsupials started going viral and prompted many to ask the question: is this simply too good to be true?

Are quokkas real? Or are they something that’s been conjured up by internet users just to brighten up our dreary Tuesday mornings? Well, I’m here to brighten not only your Tuesday but your entire life, because quokkas are indeed real – and they’re as adorable as ever. Fact-checking website Snopes looked into the matter after it received ‘questions about [the quokka] that some readers thought was simply too cute to be real’. The website concluded: ‘We can confirm that this is indeed a real animal.