Lions and tigers and bears! 7 amazing wildlife web cams to watch with your kids
If you think your kid’s internet viewing is limited to Peppa Pig videos and endless repeats of Paw Patrol, we’re here to tell you there’s so much more!
Sometimes in the fog of parenting littlies, we forget there’s a whole bunch of great stuff online, just outside of our usual go-tos. Places you can dig a little deeper into the natural world, for instance.
Granted, your kids might not be grown up enough to cope with the dramatic arc of an Attenborough nature documentary, but these more gentle live webcams offer the same real-life glimpse of animals in the wild without the epic battles and upsetting casualties.
Here’s some brilliant places to observe animals doing their animal thing around the globe, and if your child wants to find out more, we’ve popped some extra links alongside each stream. You can be wildlife warriors together, all from the comfort of your own lounge room. Yasss!
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1. Eagle cam
This US live cam is trained on a bald eagle nest, high above a fish farm. A mum and dad eagle hatched three little eaglets, then the dad flew away and now the mum is raising them alone. The camera tracks their progress every day, and you can watch them feeding and pooping and pecking each other. Just like human brothers and sisters!
2. Walrus cam
As many as 15 000 walruses cram onto this Alaskan beach. You can watch them snuggling up together or splashing about in the shallows. (We just found out a walrus can weigh as much as a small car and JEEPERS!!)
3. Puffin cam
Okay, lets confirm that puffins are the adorable cartoon characters of the bird world. This cam allows you to glimpse these jolly fellows on a seaside perch in Maine, where they wander about alongside encouraging “dummy” puffins or cosy up with their heads under their wings.
4. Bear cam
Granted, these guys are in hibernation at the moment, but they’ll be waking up very soon, and in the meantime, there’s a brilliant highlights reel rolling on this cam. Your child – and you, let’s face it – will go nuts over the cute bears playing in the water and catching fish with their big bear paws.
Find out more about brown bears
5. Shark cam
Get up close and personal with some of the ocean’s scariest predators in this collection of shark shots compiled by the EXPLORE.org Shark Live Cam, located off the coast of North Carolina. Rather than scary, it’s actually quite mesmerising to watch these beautiful creatures doing their thing.
6. African wildlife
This group of cameras are trained on a river in Africa and provide glimpses of some amazing animals if you’re patient – and are viewing at the right time of day. (We suggest sunrise and sunset!)
Find out more about wildlife in Africa
7. Sea lion cam
Watching these plump Canadian sea lions is like watching the kind of soap opera where everyone lies around and yells and flaps their limbs – and generally gets a bit messy. Perhaps you’ve been to a party like that?
We hope you enjoyed this animal safari around the globe. How amazing that we can see all this, without even taking our slippers off!
