Most of Japan's animal cafes dealing with species restricted by int'l laws: study

Around 60 percent of Japan’s animal cafes exhibit animals restricted by international trade laws due to their endangered status, according to a study.

Of the 419 different species and 3,793 individual animals exhibited in the cafes, nine species and 53 animals are banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),

They included the grey parrot and slow loris, a type of primate.

Another 241 species and 2,498 individuals, including the fennec fox, require permission from the exporting country.

The cafes allow customers to pet animals, such as owls or hedgehogs, or watch them up close.

The popularity of excotic animals in Japanese cafes is raising fears that they may threaten conservation and heighten the risk of animal-borne diseases.

There were 137 such stores as of 2019, with the popularity of the cafes and demand for the animals potentially triggering overhunting in their native habitats, according to the study by institutions including Sorbonne University and non-governmental organization Traffic.

According to Yumiko Okamoto of Traffic, there is a need to implement measures whereby an animal's biology and behavioral characteristics are given the utmost consideration, and only educational facilities such as zoos are allowed to keep them.

Exotic animals can be purchased or sold in Japan if they were brought in before restrictions were implemented or if they were locally bred and registered.

The study also cautioned that some animals in cafes may have been trafficked from the illegal wildlife trade, as no record of their trades is in the CITES database, and due to recent seizures of endangered primate species by Japanese customs.

38 cafes also sold animals on display. Many of the owls were available for 200,000 to 600,000 yen.

The most expensive animal listed was a secretary bird for 3 million yen.