KYOTO OWL'S FOREST — Attraction in Kyoto

We visited the owls and cats, and they were beautiful. Owls -Their feathers are very soft, I do not think I will have any opportunity to ever touch an owl otherwise.

The staff briefed us at the start with English signs to help us along in both cat and owl area.

Cats - the cats were super friendly and walked up to smell us and our bags. There seem to be regulars that the cats know and trust enough to perch on their laps. The interaction area smelt clean and the cats stalked up and down the tree branches, pounced on toys all on their own. Generally they looked well cared for and happy.

Owls - no odour, and the set up was well done for the space. I like that they gave clear instructions on how to touch, why we should touch as instructed (we can damage the feathers) and also made steps to let the owls have a break, and what owls are still new to meeting customers. We are allowed to stay as long as we want but asked to walked in a circle to let customers get a chance to meet the birds. Some of the birds seem to enjoy the petting…hard to describe but they half close their eyes and don’t shy away and almost look like they could purr. Some birds seem to be enduring it, and move their heads lower and lower away from your hand. As other reviewers said - the leash is short. I saw a bird looking a bit “wet”, there’s some dribbled down the front of its feathers and it was biting the perch. it would be naiive to say, that the birds do not feel any stress from this kind of business. As a business I believe they have put some thought into managing it based on the break time procedures and when not to touch instructions, but I hope they consider checking on the birds more often during their “shift” especially when there are many customers to use up their...

We were in the area and saw it and, loving owls, I thought it was a great idea. And without further thought, we quickly headed inside. After getting up the stairs was when we realized that all of the owls were chained to their perches and they were only able to move an inch left or right. Several of them were visibly upset and it looked like one had been crying. I immediately regretted giving them my money, and even having the thought of going inside is still haunting me and has ruined my entire Japan trip. Upon leaving, with a fresh case of cognitive dissonance I began searching online and found multiple accounts of similarly horrible things from redditors across different owl "zoos". I even read an account of an owl falling off of it's perch, flapping its wings and unable to get untangled from its chains while other patrons pointed and laughed.  While this business model is probably going to continue to survive for a long time, on the ignorance of bypassers who have not seen some things like it before, I can in no way recommend that you financially support this type of...

I enjoyed being able to pat the owls. However it does make me question whether the birds enjoyed being chained to the tree branches. They do appear well cared for.

The bengal cats experience was left a bit to be desired. As a cat owner I have no fear of cats and love to pat, play hug them etc. However due to the limited number of cats compared to people my family of five was mostly unable to experience having a cat to pat or sit in their lap within the 30 minute limit. I think the staff could have been more helpful moving or sharing the cats around.

I respect that it’s a hands off and let the cats decide if they want attention and yes they are cats. So it’s not really anyone’s fault. Just left dissatisfied

In addition the environment of the enclosed spaces is very warm and humid. It can also be crowded. This greatly reduces the relaxation value of being surrounded by the cats. If you feel even a little uncomfortable with tight enclosed spaces or heat then...