Culture

The World Has Just Discovered Puggles Are A Thing And Everyone’s Freaking Out

They look a lot like nifflers from 'Fantastic Beats'.

by Osman Faruqi  24 November 2016

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Two fun things happened this week. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in cinemas, to generally positive reviews.

Everyone agrees that the best thing about the film was these cute little guys:

Niffler

A cheeky lil niffler.

And just a couple of days later Sydney’s Taronga Zoo announced of three baby echidnas, also known as puggles:

Screen Shot 2016-11-24 at 4.17.42 PM

OMG. Photo: Paul Fahy

Screen Shot 2016-11-24 at 4.19.34 PM

OMG OMG. Photo: Paul Fahy

It’s the first time in 30 years the zoo has managed to successfully breed echidnas. The echidna keepers are super happy with the puggles so far. “All three mothers are doing an amazing job and tending to their puggles as needed,” Keeper Suzie Lemon said. “We have one mum, Spike, who is so attentive that she returns to feed her baby every second day.”

As you might have noticed, the puggles look an awful lot like nifflers. The internet has definitely noticed.

A lot of people seem convinced that puggles are proof that nifflers are real.

Even the BBC got on board!

If you ask us, nifflers look like a cross between a platypus (notice the duck bill?) and an echidna. Either way, they’re definitely Australian. And very sneaky.

If you want to find out more about the real life puggles, check out Taronga Zoo’s blog.