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Baboons -

Baboons love babies, with females tending to be primary caretakers of the young. Possessed of an ingrained gripping reflex, an infant is able to hold itself against its mother's belly with tightly grasping hands and feet almost immediately after birth. Primates have been known to carry around their infants after they've died, such is the bond between a mother and her young.

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Koalas -

The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. After leaving the pouch, young koalas— joeys—will cling to their mom's backs until they are almost a year old.

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Kangaroos -

The kangaroo is another iconic marsupial indigenous to Australia. It's also found in New Guinea. Only the females have pouches, where joeys will spend about 190 days before emerging to discover the outside world.

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Orangutans -

Orangutans are the most solitary of the great apes: social bonds occur primarily between mothers and their dependent offspring. During the first two years of their life, youngsters rely entirely on their mothers for both food and transportation.

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Chimpanzees -

Young chimps stay very close to their moms. Babies are carried backside down by the mother under her belly for the first month so that her newborn can be breastfed easily. After that, they'll hitch a ride up top whenever possible.

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Opossums -

Opossums can give birth to litters of up to 20 young. Once born, the offspring have to find the pouch and hold on to and nurse from a teat. It's a bit of a free-for-all and not all make it that far. As they grow larger, surviving baby opossums will bag a place on mom's back until they're old enough to leave.

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Giant anteaters -

Female giant anteaters have a single offspring once a year. After birth, a baby anteater will climb onto its mother's back, where it can stay for up to a year. Pups leave their mother after two years, when they're considered fully grown.

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Wallabies -

Belonging to the same family as kangaroos, wallabies nurse their young in similar fashion, with joeys enjoying the comfort and safety of mom's pouch until they outgrow it.

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Lions -

In the same way a domestic female cat will carry its kittens, big cats move their youngsters by carefully picking them up by the scruff of their neck using their mouth.

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Tigers -

The cub instinctively relaxes every muscle and allows the mother to transport it to their new safe den.

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Leopards -

A mother cat will often pick up and move her litter to a new location, especially during the first few weeks after birth.

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Ocelots -

Establishing a new den is part of the cat's instinctual behavior to safeguard her young by not remaining in one place too long.

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Common mergansers -

Ducklings often swim behind their mother, riding the waves in her wake to save energy. But they'll happily use mom as a convenient ferry when tiredness sets in. And when they get cold, ducklings will snuggle up underneath her feathers.

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Sea otters -

Sea otter moms have only one pup at a time. For the first month of its life, the youngster rests quietly on its mother's chest as she cuddles, grooms, and feeds it. And for the next six months or so, the mother will never leave its side except to look for food.

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Tree-kangaroos -

Inhabiting the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and far northeastern Queensland, tree-kangaroos are perfectly adapted for arboreal locomotion. In other words, they are totally at home in the loftiest of canopies. Which is probably why moms have deep pouches in which to safeguard their young.

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Swans -

Swans are the birdworld's aircraft carriers. While they are still small, cygnets are often transported on their mother's wide backs, though male swans, known as cobs, also perform parental carrying duties.

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Gorillas -

During their infancy, baby gorillas are always carried by their mothers. And they do this in a fashion that resembles the way we carry our own youngsters. Unlike humans and maybe other species, though, gorilla mothers hardly allow other family members to carry or handle their infants.

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Loons -

Although they can swim immediately after hatching, baby loons spend a lot of time riding on their parents' backs during the first few days of their lives.

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Crocodiles -

One of the natural world's most fearsome beasts is also one of the gentlest. At least when it comes to nurturing its young. Despite having the most powerful bite on the planet, crocodiles will gently carry their babies to water in their mouths.

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Bears -

If necessary, a mother bear will carry a cub in her mouth to a new location or will gently grasp a crying cub in her mouth to help it down from a tree. And if they're feeling apprehensive or afraid, some cubs will take refuge on their mom's backs.

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Lemurs -

Female lemurs serve as furry minivans for their offspring. As youngsters are raised by the whole group, new moms frequently exchange their babies and care for related offspring.

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Seals -

Seal pups often get a helping hand from their moms by way of a bonding process more than as a necessity. But a female seal will carry her baby to safety if she feels it's being threatened.

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Sloths -

Baby sloths often travel by hanging onto their mother for the first nine months of their lives. But they never really get anywhere fast!

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Alligators -

As with crocs, alligators will also take their young to water using their mouths. Gators, however, often go one step further by providing their youngers with a hop-on, hop-off ferry service when required.

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Toads -

Some South and Central American frog and toad species, the Surinam toad for example, brood their eggs in a pouch under the skin on mom's back. After a period of four to five months, an army of fully formed froglets is released.

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Frogs -

Poison dart frog species carry tadpoles to water sources on their backs, a handy taxi service offered by both parents.

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Wolf spiders -

The female wolf spider lays about 100 eggs at any one time. As the young emerge from her egg sac, they clamber onto her back for one to two weeks before leaving to live independently.

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Scorpions -

Scorpions give live birth, and the mother will keep the offspring on her back, protecting them. She doesn't feed her babies, but she'll continue to carry them until they are able to hunt for themselves.

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Whip spiders -

Nightmarish in looks, resembling a cross between a scorpion and a spider, whip spiders are not venomous and moms in fact are tender and caring towards their offspring. Babies stay on her back until their first molting, at which point they leave the mother to make their own way in the humid subtropical habitats they call home.

Sources: (World Wildlife Fund) (National Geographic) (Wild Chimpanzee Foundation) (Wise About Bears)

See also: Adorable baby animals pictured with their families

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