An Owl's Unique Friendship With A Cat Attracts Visitors To This Japanese Cafe

Everyone, meet the two most adorable little buddies in Japan! Fuku-chan is a 5-year-old little owl and his best friend is Marimo, a 2-month-old Scottish Fold kitten. Now, we have spoken about these peculiar combinations for a very long time and by now nothing is too out-of-the-ordinary. But these two are so popular in the world of Hukulou Coffee, that the patrons that visit this locale are mostly attracted by the incredible connection this bird has with the cats that call the cafe their home.

Located on Osaka, Hukulou Coffee is an owl cafe, a place where you can get your steaming cup of joe with a side of owl cuteness. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, then get this - Fuku-chan has become best buds with the cafe’s youngest resident, Marimo! The adorable pair has been introduced to a myriad of websites all across Japan and people are swooning over them. What is not to swoon over anyway?

Sadly, what people seem to be missing here is the sad truth behind these increasingly popular owl cafes. In order to reach their popularity, where folks will be calling them “beautiful” and “heart-melting”, they need to capture the wildlife, ergo rid them of their freedom so that patrons can interact with the birds that call the inside of the establishment their home.

Kent Knowles, president of the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia, says that getting people around wild critters as if they were your run-of-the-mill cats and dogs is a terrible idea. We hope that Fuku’s friendship with Marimo offers him at least some comfort, albeit rare, amidst the frightening life in café captivity. Fuku will probably never be able to live in the wild, where he would be able to find lots of his own kind, but it's a small relief that he has found such a loving companion in this tiny kitty.