Watch a hamster work its way through a hamster-sized dojo

Best international animal channels on YouTube
By Janis McMath, Editor-in-Chief

The creator freaking hand crafts a dojo with hamster-sized tatami mats and hamster-sized Japanese-style sliding doors

Much like I did when I was in grade three, I base a lot of my personality around the fact that I love animals. Cats, dogs, otters, capybaras, hamsters—whatever. You name it; if it has that classic dumb cute animal face, I probably love it. This obsession has led me to have an extensive knowledge of animal YouTube channels. And, if you’re like me and are curious as to what animals across the globe are like, here’s a collection of content creators from countries across the water.

INTRICATELY BUILT HAMSTER MAZES

SIMI TV is an absolute marvel—this channel is truly one of humankind’s greatest achievements (and also has English subs). This channel is run by an extremely talented Korean craftsman that builds these totally bonkers cardboard obstacle courses for his hamsters to wander through and scavenge for treats in. The first half of many of his videos feature his concept drawings and the building-process for these utterly manic sets. One of my favourite videos is called “Ninja Hamster.” In it, the creator freaking hand crafts a dojo with hamster-sized tatami mats and hamster-sized Japanese-style sliding doors (shoji). He also often illustrates little comics and has a storyline in his videos (if they weren’t already interesting enough). I would also recommend “Sushi train of hamster”—where he makes a working sushi conveyor belt restaurant for his lil’ buddy. Seriously, if you die before seeing these videos, it’ll be your biggest regret in life.

CLEVER AND HUMOUROUS CAT CONTENT IN CLEAN MINIMALIST APARTMENTS

One of the best animal channels of all time is Kittisaurus. The channel is run by Claire, an extremely creative and hilarious Korean lady with ten freaking cats (and English subtitles). The aesthetic of the channel does not emit a single “crazy cat lady” vibe, however. Instead, her beautiful (and giant) apartment serves as a great backdrop for all of her extremely unique videos. Claire does a great job introducing you to the ten different personalities of her cats with clever video ideas like, “$1000 Crazy Catnip Party!” and “Cats vs The Nun.” She also has a bunch of hilarious character voices for her cats and an adorable sense of humour. The same content creator also runs the CreamHeroes and Claire Luvcat YouTube channels if you’re looking for related content. Additionally, SuriNoel is a channel with a similar clean minimalist comedic vibe, but instead the owners are a small Korean family with a young child and there are only five cats.

A BIG GODDAMN RABBIT

Have you ever heard of Flemish giant rabbits? Also known as the “king of rabbits” these mammoths are comparable to a medium-sized dog. These personable creatures are hard not to love, making Jabba The Rabbit an extremely enjoyable channel for anyone with a heart. This big boy is full of affection and personality; it is unreal how cute he is. The channel creator is also very considerate of her rabbit’s well being and puts many educational tips in the description for rabbit owners. (For example, did you know that carrots are not a healthy diet for rabbits?)    

MAGICAL GHIBLI-ESQUE ENCOUNTERS WITH STRAY CATS

This is hands down my favourite genre of animal videos. These videos are moments of undoubtably real magic. Bless all the YouTube creators around the world who create these peaceful snapshots of their country and the foreign cats who live there. Such videos could easily be used as some form of meditation. No obnoxious music, no obnoxious YouTube personality—just genuine people affectionately interacting with eager cats. Many of these videos simply feature someone quietly giving physical affection to a cat as the noises from the natural environment immerse you entirely. (Weird girls and their sexy ASMRs can go to hell. Stray cat purring in the quiet and windy street ASMR is where it is AT.) And the forever changing cast of cats and settings keep these videos fresh. Some of my favourite channels in this genre include meow meow, a channel run by a Turkish lady who feeds the stray cats of Istanbul and speaks to them in a sweet and affectionate voice; a Japanese channel by the name of 野郎が撮った猫動画, Google translated to “cat videos taken by a bastard,” which features the sounds of nature and the physical affection of stray cats; and another Japanese channel similar to the previous by the name of Impressed cat video.