You are a real animal lover and want to see many cute animals in Asia during your travel?
During our 7 months trip through Asia, we were able to see a whole bunch of different animals. However, many of them didn’t make it on this list as we decided to just include the animals which we actually got in touch with.
Anyway, you might realize that there are many possibilities seeing a whole lot of more animals in Asia, e.g. for taking pictures with different kinds of animals (such as parrots, snakes, and even fruit bats). This might look like a cute thing to do in the first place, but please keep in mind that most of those animals are not being held appropriate to the species. Therefore, please, please don’t help to support exploiting those innocent creatures.
That being said, there are also great ways to meet animals in an ethical kind of way. Some of them, you can find in this post.
Cute Monkeys in Asia
You can find monkeys in several countries throughout Asia. In Japan, for example, we loved the snow monkeys, Japanese Macaque, Macaca Fuscata or however you want to call them.
You can find them in the wild, e.g. in the Japanese Alps or in Hokkaido. (We saw them for the first time while hiking between Magome and Tsumago)
Another possibility to see this kind of monkey is a visit to the Iwatayama Monkey Park in Kyoto, which I can highly recommend you. In the monkey park, the animals can run around freely. So, if you want to get in touch and feed them, you are the one that has to enter the cage, while the monkeys stay outside where they can leave at any time if they feel like. The whole experience was definitely one of our top animal experiences in Japan.
Got curious? Find my whole post about the Iwatayama Monkey Park with Information and photos here.
Moreover, you can find even more kinds of monkeys around Southeast Asia. Here, especially in really touristic places, the monkeys can be a little bit aggressive at times, though. Especially, if you have plastic bags or even food with you, they might try to steal it.
At the Monkey Beach on Koh Phi Phi, you will find a lot of monkeys.(What a surprise with this name, huh?) They are definitely used to have humans walking around their beach and usually don’t seem to really mind it.
On the contrary, as soon as you forget to look after your backpack for one second, the chances are high that the monkeys are trying to steal everything they can from it. And we were impressed of how fast they can be when it comes to stealing food.
Cute Cats in Asia
One thing is for sure: as soon as we stop traveling regularly (therefore, probably never), we will adopt a little cat. (or five) Until then, we will probably stop for every kitty that walks by, trying to catch their attention or pet them a little.
In Myanmar, you can see dozens of cats walking by every day. For instance, during our temple tour through Mandalay, Eduardo spent more time in this one temple playing with the little kittens than actually looking at the temple.
Also in Cambodia, we stumbled upon many cats. For instance, this black and white cat we found in a temple around Angkor. I am not proud to say that we spent more than 20 minutes playing with it after the cat found interest in my backpack.
The next cat, I want to show you, we met in Magome, Japan while hiking in the Japanese Alps.
(Another plus, it was another excuse to have a little break from walking all this way up with my backpack on. 😉 )
And the next little ball of fluff was my favorite. We found this cutie on Koh Lanta, Thailand while having lunch. Or rather, she found us. We just couldn’t get rid of her and so she stayed on my lap during our whole lunch and I had to stay really strong to not take her home with me afterwards 🙂
Oh, Deer! Cute Deer in Japan
The sika deer, also known as Japanese deer are said to be heavenly animals due to Japanese culture. They protect the city and country.
In Nara, you can see and adore those free-range deer and if you are a little bit lucky they might come by in order for you to pet it, as this one did.
If you need some extra help catching their attention, all you need to do is to buy one package of deer-biscuits, which you can find at the entrance of the park. Suddenly, you will find yourself surrounded by at least five of them trying to get something to eat. All of a sudden, they don’t seem to be as calm and peaceful anymore, biting your shirt and pushing you until you give them one of the biscuits. Sounds more brutal than it actually is, to be honest. 😉
For further information feel free to check my whole post about Nara here.
Seeing Elephants in Asia
One of the highlights of our trip through Asia was spending a day with elephants in Chiang Mai. It was important for us to find an elephant camp in which the animals are treated well.
You can find elephants almost everywhere around Thailand. But unfortunately, most of those elephants are being held under very bad conditions and even being ridden, which is bad for the pachyderms in general. So, please don’t ride an elephant in Asia!
Therefore, if you are planning to see elephants during your trip, please make sure you visit a place which is treating its animals well.
If you go to the right place, though, it will be truly an extraordinary experience.
For further information feel free to check my post about the Dumbo Elephant Spa in Chiang Mai here.
If you want to see elephants in the wild, make sure to check out Khao Yai National Park.
Cute Cows in Asia
As well as cats and dogs, you can find cows all over Southeast Asia. Usually, you find them grazing in the meadow or near the street. Sometimes, they are even standing in the middle of the road.
We discovered this little calf with his sibling and mom while walking around the rice fields of Bali. Even though I was totally fascinated by the rice fields, I just couldn’t help but pet this little fella.
Not that cute Pigs
I know, I know… I promised CUTE animals in Asia. But besides being quite ugly, this bearded pig is pretty cool, don’t you think? We found this fella in the jungle of the Bako National park in Kuching, Malaysia.
We were impressed by how much we could approach without the pig actually taking any note of us. It continued looking for food on the ground even when we kneeled down to take this selfie.
By the way, those wild bearded pigs can only be found around Southeast Asia, especially in Borneo.
And now back to actual cute animals in Asia…
Drink tea with Bunnies in Thailand
Who could be a better companion when having a tea or coffee than a cute fluffy little bunny?
In Pai in Thailand, you can find the Bunny Café. Here you can relax while having a tea and watching bunnies play, sleep or just hop around. Simply adorable!
And the best is that the drinks are basically the same prices as other cafés and restaurants around this area.
Cute Owls in Japan
You can find these super cute owls in the Owl café in Nara, Japan. Owlright?
I got to admit that those animals are absolutely lovely. Anyway, I am not quite sure whether these animals are being held species-appropriate. Therefore, I cannot recommend the Owl Café of Nara to 100%.
Some of the owls are put on a leash and therefore not able to hide.
On the other hand, the staff is taking care that the sleeping owls are not being touched or woken up.
Swimming with Turtles in Asia
During our trip, we finally did our Open-Water-Course on the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia. Therefore, we had the chance to get a totally new inside of the underwater world and its residents.
While diving and snorkeling around the Gili Islands we could get super close to the Green turtles. What an amazing feeling. We got so close to the turtles that we could have even touched them. (Of course, we didn’t) It was funny how they didn’t seem to take any note of us and just kept eating, sleeping or whatever they were currently doing as if we weren’t there.
It was an incredible experience being able to swim with these peaceful creatures. After swimming with the turtles I still need to find a chance to be able to go swimming with dolphins one day.
Snakes in Asia
In the wild, I actually would be anything else but happy to come across a snake. But this little cutie here is the pet of our host in Brunei Darussalam.
This baby python is called Mia and accompanied us hanging out and having dinner. I even dared to take a picture with her. Like this she doesn’t look dangerous at all, does she?
Now she is still small and cute but when she grows up Mia can actually get up to 2 meters long.
In case all you can think right now is, where in the world is Brunei Darussalam, you probably won’t be the only one. Feel free to check out my post about the unknown country of Brunei here.
Cute animals you can befriend in Asia
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Great job! Thanks for sharing this article.Happy new year.
Thank you. Happy New Year to you as well! 🙂