8 animals you need to follow on Instagram

There are oodles of adorable animals making a mark on our Instagram account, Nicky Park has picked the eight that you need to be following.

Grumpy Cat

This unhappy looking cat (real name Tardar Sauce) is one of the most well-known animals made famous by the internet. His lovable frowning face earned him the title as the "World's Grumpiest Cat" when it was posted to Reddit in 2012. His grumpy mug has since been turned in to endless memes and seen the cat rise to fame, gracing red carpets, magazine covers and fronting kitty products in the US. He's got over 6 million 'likes' on Facebook and sells t-shirts, mugs, puppets, books and a whole host of paraphernalia to his biggest fans online. This cat has made it.

Boo the Pomeranian

This short-haired fluff-ball is killing the Facebook count, currently racking up over 15 million 'likes'. Boo belongs to a Facebook employee who set up a page for the pooch with the phrase: "My name is Boo. I am a dog. Life is good." Boo began his rise to fame after a Tweet from singer Ke$ha in 2010 referred to him as her new boyfriend and Khloe Kardashian called him the "cutest dog on the planet". He has been the subject of four photo books and is the spokesdog for Virgin America airlines.

Menswear Dog

Menswear Dog, aka Bodhi, is the most well-dressed hound on the internet. The handsome shiba inu is the subject of a popular Tumblr blog featuring him dressed in a range of dapper outfits including shirts and ties, shades, braces and beanies. His owners - graphic designer David Fung and Yena Kim - have signed a book deal showcasing Meanswear Dog's finest looks.

Trotter the French bulldog

We can't stop flicking through pics of hipster French Bulldog, Trotter. Her "fat and sassy" Instagram account is clocking over 200,000 followers at the moment. Trotter's San Francisco owner, Sonya Yu, takes glorious pictures of this photogenic Frenchie, mostly posing on polished floors with a white wall behind, dressed in all sorts of ensembles - festive, classic, cool and bloody cute. Yu describes Trotter as "sweet and calm and chill" but with "an inkling that she's famous".

Norm the pug

Pictures of this spunky pug blur the line between animal snaps and art, with the Instagram account accumulating over 250,000 followers in a very short amount of time. Norm's owner, photographer Jeremy Veach, started snapping his young pet pug back in January, with his signature move being a one-pawed selfie.

Tuna Melts My Heart

Tuna, a chichiana-dashbund mix with an adorable, but aggressive, overbite and crumpled chin, has reached nearly 1 million followers on his Instagram account. The unique pup was originally found on the side of the road in San Francisco, apparently abandoned by his owners. Tuna now adorns a bunch of merchandise including iPhone covers, T-shirts and mugs, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity.

Sam has eyebrows

This worried looking black and white cat has a bold set of curious looking brows. Sam, a stray picked up in New York, has nearly 200,000 followers on his Instagram account. Cynics have questioned how real the surprising facial markings are, but his owner, who wants to remain anonymous, has posted close-up pics as proof.

Darcy the flying hedgehog

Darcy, the cute handful of hedgehog, has won hearts posing in pot plants, boots, cups and on cards. She makes friends with caterpillars and rides a flamingo. Her owner Shota Tsukamoto, a 'hedgehographer' from Tokyo, named her pet after the former bassist from the Smashing Pumpkins. She began posting pics of tiny Darcy online, and she's now accumulated over 400,000 followers.

- www.nzherald.co.nz