Love for Animals (College Essay)

It’s never surprising that people love animals, especially baby animals and are always drown in their charms. Millions of us watch their videos on YouTube or other video platforms. If you own a pet and post its videos or photos on Weibo, then you get a chance to attract thousands of followers or even more in a short time. The most heard explanation for our love of animals is” they are cute.” So, why do we think baby animals are cute? In fact, it’s quiet a scientific thing.

Those animals that are generally considered cute have much in common. For instance, they usually have big eyes, round faces and thick fur. Most of us find panda more appealing than bear, though they all have furry bodies. It may owe to panda’s bigger and rounder head. The science behind the cutesy faces is simple: a lot of baby mammals, including human babies have those certain features. We are all born with big heads and big eyes and when we see those features, our natural caring emotions spring into action. Psychologist called it “cute response”, an instinctive, primitive reaction of human being.

At the sight of panda’s baby-like head, or cat and dog’s round watery eyes, blood rushes to our mid brain, part of brain’s pleasure center where a lot of dopamine is released from. Dopamine is also one of the hormone that released when we fall in love. This chemical reaction creates emotions, making us immersed in compassion and love for animals.

In addition to the appearance of animals, the clumsy action of animals is also one of the major triggers of the cute response. It can probably explain why we love penguins. Their special walking posture makes them just like toddling babies. Of course, other special behaviors can have the same effect. Another example is Koala whose generally sleepy face and symbolic act of cuddling trees are incredibly cute.

However, it’s not only facial clues that can trigger cute response, sounds can be just as powerful. We associate high frequency sounds, created by animals like puppies and penguins, with surprise and fun. But when we hear low frequency sounds like a cat’s snore, we feel calm and comfort. If we take a careful look of cats, we’ll find that they meet all the requirements to be cute, for example, big watery eyes, furry body, elegant movements and sounds of snoring. Maybe it’s why they have such a close relationship with human and have shared our home for thousands of years. What makes it interesting is that when a cat wants food or caring, they may raise their sound’s pitch to a peak of 600 Hertz, the same as a human baby’s wail. Such sound makes it impossible for us to ignore.

Even the hardest soul melts when confronted cute animals. Those features that trigger cute response and even the cute response itself exist for survival. All creatures are struggling to find a way to adapt to the changing world and to ensure the race lives on. Maybe that is why nature remains awesome and charming.

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