Meet The 2024 Cadbury Bunny: A Rescue Raccoon Named Louie!

Louie, a 2-year-old rescue raccoon, is a beloved social media influencer and artist. And now he can add Cadbury bunny to his resume.

Louie the Racoon won Cadbury's 6th annual bunny tryouts contest and his owners couldn't be more proud.

Last week, Cadbury announced that the winner of their 2024 Cadbury Bunny Tryouts is Louie the Raccoon.

"Louie is a two-year-old raccoon from Miami, FL who was rescued by his owner Jaime in 2021 after he had been deemed unfit to live in the wild," the Instagram caption reads. "When he isn’t lounging in his favorite tree, he’s busy fundraising for wildlife rescue & rehabilitation centers by creating art using his toe-painting skills!"

Louie's owner dropped into the comments to say, "Thank you all so much for the continued love and support for us & @samadhi_wildlife. We are so happy to be your 2024 Cadbury Bunny!"

The competition was rough. The last round was narrowed down to just Loki the cat and Louie the Raccoon. Loki's owners left a comment after Louie was crowned this year's bunny.

"We said it from the beginning: if Loki didn’t win this thing, it HAD to be Louie—congratulations @louietheraccoon !! You guys really deserve the win…I hope that Louie representing Cadbury helps show more people how adorable raccoons really are, and helps raise awareness about amazing wildlife rescues like @samadhi_wildlife."

This year's competition was a bit different than in prior years. The bracket-style elimination took place on Instagram. Fans were able to vote for their favorites starting on March 11.

The brackets started at 32 "Thirty Cute," then went to 16 for the "Creme 16." The next voting round featured the "Eggcellent 8," and then it was the remaining four in the "Final Fur." After that, only two remained - Loki the cat and Louie the Raccoon.

"Each year we look forward to crowning a new Cadbury bunny, especially this year [when] we engaged fans in a new way through our bracket-style competition. It was incredible to see pet lovers getting in on the fun," Natalie Shuntich, senior associate marketing manager at The Hershey Company, said in a statement, according to PEOPLE.

"Witnessing how fans participated in each wave of voting, and the loving support for our 30 cute finalists from Cadbury fans across the U.S. is a testament to the love for the Cadbury brand."

For winning the iconic competition, Louie will receive $7,000 in prize money and will star in an upcoming Cadbury bunny tryouts commercial.

Louie the Raccoon not only won the honor of being the face of the 2024 Cadbury Bunny but also won money that will be donated to a Florida wildlife rescue.

Samadhi Wildlife shared their excitement over Louie's win on their Instagram page.

"We are ecstatic with your overwhelming response to the needs of our precious wildlife! When we consider the tremendous love & support that we have received, we don't think in terms of money, we think about the lives that we will now be able to save!" the caption of Louie's winning announcement reads.

"You see, there is an abundance of resources to treat & provide care for domesticated animals. Unfortunately, the same opportunity does not exist for our struggling wildlife. So, these funds will help us minimize suffering & provide these animals with excellent medical treatment, loving care & a second chance at life!"

The caption thanked Louie, his owner Jaime Arslan, and Cadbury.

Louie's owner dropped into the comments to say, "We love you and everything you do for our wildlife so much! It’s an honor to work with you and raise awareness for everything you do!"

In a video shared on Louie's Instagram page, fans can see the backstory of Louie being rescued by Arslan.

The video begins with Arslan dancing with her father at her wedding with the words, "Some things that have happened since you've been gone," over the video.

The next part of the video shows a young Louie. "A week after your accident, I rescued a baby raccoon that lost his mom," words over the video reads. "I named him Louie after your middle name."

Next up in the video, Louie puts his little hands in a dish of water.

"I was so heartbroken without you, I gave all that I had to take care of Louie," she wrote. "He never left my side. He was the reason I got out of bed. He sat in the tree and I sat below."

The video also shows Louie is a talented painter!

She also shared, "Growing up, I saw you give back to so many causes. I knew I wanted to do the same. Louie raised money for Wildlife Sanctuaries to continue helping other raccoons that were like him. You would be so proud!"

Believe it or not, Louie is a talented and passionate painter. He loves to paint and you can even purchase one of his "Loucasso" paintings on his website.

Louie even helped out his sister, Lucy, when she started painting, too.

An adorable video on Louie's Instagram page shows their masterpieces in action. The video is captioned, "Lucy da Vinci in the house! Louie assisted Lucy with her first time painting! It was a success, they had tons of fun making their first collab masterpiece!"

Arslan also shared that the "paint is non-toxic finger paint, approved by a veterinarian," just in case anyone was concerned about the paint they used on their adorable little hands.

See video here.