By Loretta Shepherd | Communications Coordinator
Did you know that Japan is the largest importer of live owls globally, with these iconic birds becoming increasingly popular as pets and featuring prominently in animal cafés?
Have you heard of animal cafés?
Why owls? Their popularity is largely attributed to demand for supposed healing powers (iyashi) of owls, and for their cuteness appeal, locally known as kawaii.
We recently conducted a study into this phenomenon in Japan and we discovered 1914 owls from 49 species across a total of 92 establishments, with import records showing that species variety has highly increased over time. Interestingly, of the 49 recorded species, 90% were non-native to Japan, meaning these species are naturally found in coutries outside of Japan.
Check out the paper Live owls in Japanese pet stores and cafés: Volumes, species, and impediments to effective trade monitoring which was published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity.
Working on such poorly-known issues within wildlife trade is our niche. Thank you for supporting our work!
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