Unique animal obsession

Even on a regular weekday, Kitty Zoo, a pet cafe in Changzhou, Jiangsu, attracts a crowd of visitors, all eager to meet its star, a capybara named Jilizhazha.

Founded just two months ago by Tang Rong, 35, and Li Xiaohan, 32, the cafe quickly rose to the top of Meituan, a major online services platform in China, within days of its opening.

"Most of our customers are young people in their early 20s," Li said.

Tang, who has over a decade of experience in the pet industry, reflected on a time when keeping unconventional pets like lizards and snakes was a niche hobby. However, the surging popularity of alpacas on social media in recent years has led to greater acceptance of exotic pets. Even many cat cafes now feature exotic animals to attract more customers.

The term "exotic pets" refers to animals beyond traditional companions like cats and dogs, including insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. On the lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu, the tag "exotic pets" has amassed over 360 million views, showcasing pet owners caring for popular animals such as capybaras, raccoons, meerkats, and alpacas.

One such enthusiast, 23-year-old Jiaotou (pseudonym), began raising raccoons at home last April, inspired by their classic imagery on a popular childhood snack in China and characters like Rocket Raccoon from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Jiaotou's first attention-grabbing video was a vlog of him taking Guozi, one of his raccoons, for a stroll, which captured the interest of passersby. Today, Jiaotou boasts over 500,000 followers on Douyin, with his most engaging content centered on his raccoons.

While new animal stars gain popularity, classic favorites like alpacas continue to shine on social media.

Ma Lin, a 30-year-old pet vlogger on Douyin, often livestreams her interactions with her alpacas, particularly a standout named Luobodun.

"An alpaca's intelligence is similar to that of a 2- to 3-year-old child, but Luobodun is even smarter," Ma said. For example, alpacas are known for their spitting behavior, a quirky trait often seen as a humorous form of emotional expression. Ma once discovered that Luobodun could spit on command, turning this into a playful trick featured in her videos.