For when you want to walk on the wild side.

The spread of the coronavirus and the quarantine that’s come along with it has had an effect on lots of Japanese industries, from the makers of Eel Pies, to even the deer in Nara.

While many businesses have had no choice but to close up shop, either permanently or for the time being, some other places have been fortunate enough to be able to turn to alternative ways of making money.

And one of those places is North Safari Sapporo, a zoo in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture. Since having visitors at this time is not possible, they’ve started a crowdfunding campaign with some unique incentives up for grabs.

▼ One of which is, yes it’s real, jeans that have been shredded by the lions at the zoo!

Those who contribute 70,000 yen (US$639) will receive a pair of jeans that has been mauled by the claws and teeth of the zoo’s lions. If you’re a fan of ripped jeans, it probably doesn’t get any cooler than having a pair that’s literally been torn at by giant cats. Contributors can choose which size pair of pants they’d like to have produced for them.

Of course if lion-ripped jeans aren’t your thing, the zoo has plenty of other items on offer:

  • A coaster made from beaver-gnawed wood for 3,000 yen
  • A real parrot-feather earring for 5,000 yen
  • A painting made by a monkey, seal or goat for 7,000 yen
  • A private livestream of an animal feeding of your choice for 10,000 yen
  • Become head zookeeper for a day for 100,000 yen

▼ There’s also shedded-snakeskin earrings and other jewelry for 5,000 yen.

Most of the rewards come with a thank you note from the zoo, and some of them include photo cards of the animals. Some of the items, like the beaver coasters, are already out of stock, and others are getting low too. So if you’d like to own a pair of lion-chewed pants or the work of a monkey artiste, be sure to get in while they’re still available!

▼ This tiger says “The North Safari Sapporo Zoo is in trouble, help!”
…and also probably wondering why they don’t have tiger-ripped jeans for sale.

If you’d like to contribute, then you can check out the zoo’s Campfire crowdsourcing page here.

And if you’re on the fence about purchasing lion-ripped jeans, you can see what some other pants looked when like Yagiyama Zoological Park teamed up with Loft and produced some of their own a few years back!

Source, images: CAMPFIRE
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[ Read in Japanese ]