Why do we find so many animals, even dangerous predators cute? How can evolutionary psychology explain that?

Why do we find so many animals, even dangerous predators cute? How can evolutionary psychology explain that?

It sounds like it would be an evolutionary disadvantage to find, let's say, baby bears while hunting and gathering and have the urge to pet them. You would think that the early humans who were stupid enough to do so would get mauled to death, eliminating them from the gene pool. Unlike those who would find them scary and run away or even kill them, eliminating species competing for food.

But instead we find them cute and have the urge to play with them. Why? Is it because we co-evolved with dogs and because of that feel affection to all, somewhat similar creatures? Or because ancient women selected men who were brave enough to steal predator cubs from their moms?

Tiny animals are inherently adorable.

Urbanization. Historically only urban people found animals to be cute, while rural people viewed them either as tools or pests, depending on the animal.

The same thing also works the other way around. They evolved to be cute because it protects them.

Their proportion look like that of kids.
Also kys and bring your half baked """""""evolutionary psychology""""" with you

To add this, bear cubs NOT being cute wouldn't have a very significant effect on the human population. Its not like we would suddenly become bear food en masse. The other way around it would be more significant. Bear cubs not being cute would seriously affect their population, making it relevant in an evolutionary sense.

Source? Do cultures closer to nature find let's say wolf, fox, tiger etc. cubs repulsive?

I doubt that. Even though we like them we still hunted the European bears and wolves close to extinction for example.

Well, baby animals look cute because of their proportions, that's just a biological fact those facial and body proportions are what parent (animals, including humans) find cute and "needing of protection, rearing, etc"

ANother reason we find animals cute is because of their behavior, they aren't geared as much to problem solving as we are so they seem dumber, but I hesitate to use that term because I think it belittles the amazing variety of behavior in the animal kingdom, which doesn't always need advanced problem solving to succeed, some creatures are very simple, like jellyfish, which is the way it is because of biological and ecological niches, like all life. But yeah, we think they're cute because they act in ways we wouldn't.

No, it's the opposite. Indigenous peoples usually have reverence for wild creatures, giving them archetypal, godlike characters in their myths and communing with their spirits while using psychedelic plants, brews, etc. It's only recently we stopping giving a shit about nature, sometime around when and where money was invented desu.

You're talking about hunter gatherers who I barely even register as people. Settled, rural peoples don't "revere" animals, I mean you pretty much have to be a total subhuman to do that.