My glamorous, jet-setting career of being a travel photographer has suddenly become not so alluring during this Covid-19 pandemic! All of the contracts and gigs I had lined up for spring have been canceled and I’m stuck at home for the foreseeable future.
Luckily, my silver lining is that I’ve had more time to dig through my archives and marvel at all the amazing places I’ve been. I find the most solace in images of our beautiful natural world, and of course, nothing cheers me like images of adorable baby animals! I hope to be sharing more images with you over the next weeks (or months?) of social isolation. Please enjoy these baby animal pictures and stay healthy and safe!
If “stay-at-home” measures had me crammed next to my sibling and literally being sat on by a parent, I wouldn’t be so happy either. Luckily, these gentoo penguin chicks were made for these rocky, close quarters and the warmth of a parent’s belly. Port Lockroy, Antarctica.
This young sloth is a vision of social isolation with its own cecropia tree for both eating and sleeping! Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, Upper Amazon, Peru.
These elephants huddle together to protect the newest member of their pack. Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.
Remember, we’ve got each others backs during these trying times. Two juvenile brown bear cubs stand back-to-back while their mother hunts for salmon in Southeast Alaska.
Sea otters float in kelp beds in the nutrient-rich waters surrounding the Inian Islands in Southeast Alaska.
Mornings are the most lovely time to be out on safari. I photographed these white rhino while on assignment for National Geographic Traveler. uMkhuze Game Reserve, South Africa.
Downy Adelie penguin chicks must stay in the colony while their parents go out to sea to hunt. If your children are getting cranky staying home during this pandemic, you could always remind them that at least their next meal won’t be regurgitated! Brown Bluff, Antarctica.
A Nazca booby safeguards its chick at Punta Suarez in the Galápagos Islands.
A pod of orca, including this female and juvenile, swim off of Trinity Island, Antarctica.
Fat and happy lion cubs rest together after having feasted on a kill. Kids, don’t follow their example, because rules of social isolation don’t apply to cubs! South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.
An Antarctic fur seal nuzzles her pup on a rocky beach at Fortuna Bay, South Georgia Island.
This young southern elephant seal stole my heart at Gold Harbour on South Georgia Island.
This family of noisy night monkeys is doing an excellent job at social distancing. Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, Upper Amazon River, Peru.
Surprise, it is fish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! A female Great frigatebird feeds her chick in its nest on North Seymour Island in the Galápagos Islands.
Young Galápagos sea lions frolic along the rust-colored shoreline on Rábida Island.
A young guanaco in the grass at Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile.
Remember when you grew as tall as your parents but you had acne and didn’t quite fit into your body yet? Well, teenage years are awkward even for blue-footed boobies. Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
A tender moment between a mother giraffe and her baby. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.
Keeping six feet of distance between penguins would be impossible in this king penguin colony! Gold Harbour, South Georgia Island.
Number 2 is in the lead! A young tortoise ventures down a path at the Galapaguera de Cerro Colorado reserve in the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador.
Krista Rossow Photography 