SINGAPORE – An unexpected community is offering a warm, furry solution to the epidemic of loneliness. Every three months, on Saturday evenings, hundreds of teens and young adults sprawl across picnic mats at the Sentosa Boardwalk, surrounded by soft toys, board games and takeout meals.While most passers-by might mistake them for anime enthusiasts or gamers, those in the know recognise them as furries, a mostly online sub-culture fast gaining ground in Singapore. They belong to Singapore Furries, the country’s largest furry community, which has more than 500 members, mostly composed of Gen Z and millennial-aged men. Many of them work in the tech sector, although furries of all stripes exist.Furries are fans of anthropomorphic animals – animals with human characteristics, such as the characters from animated films Zootopia (2016) or Robin Hood (1973) – best known for donning colourful and elaborate “fursuits” that bring their characters to life.“To put it in layman’s terms, I would describe it as a shared passion for cartoon animals,” says Lyra, a 30-year-old member of Singapore’s furry community who works in the events industry and who declined to give her last name.“But to me, it means a community of people who are free to express themselves without judgment,” she adds. “The cartoon animals are just a way of expressing what’s inside.”Lyra’s fursona is Faye, a blue lynx.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIMWhat’s a fursona?Unlike other fandom communities built around media franchises such as Pokemon (1997 to present) or Star Wars (1977 to present), furries create most of the media they consume themselves.One of the sub-culture’s defining practices is making up a “fursona” (short for furry persona) – a fictional anthropomorphic animal character that represents your identity within the community – often different from the name you go by in everyday life. Though best known for their fursuits, furries say it is a misconception that they hang out exclusively in these outfits.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM“Our characters are not someone else’s creation, they’re our own. From there, we pour our self-expression and creativity into making these characters come to life,” says Gabriel, 30, who declined to give his last name. He is one of the organisers behind Singapore Furries.He sees his fursona, Decro the arctic wolf, as something akin to a digital avatar. “It’s sort of like how you have a character creation page before you play a game,” he says. “My fursona is essentially me, but a furry version. His likes are my likes, his goals are my goals, his life is my life.” Others may take different approaches in crafting their fursonas, drawing inspiration from their favourite animals in real life or imagining a model version of themselves with muscles or wings.Much of this plays out online, where furries congregate in forums like FurAffinity to post digital art of their characters. This creates a continuous stream of work for a global cottage industry of furry artists, who can charge anywhere from $50 to more than $1,000 to create art for other furries.Beneath the custom-made outfits – which can cost upwards of $5,000 – and community-created art, the community’s unique social dynamics create what many members describe as “socialising on easy mode”.Members rarely question one another on how they present themselves both online or offline, no matter how unusual, based on an understanding that everyone should respect people’s chosen identifiers and pronouns. For instance, while most gravitate towards more commonplace animals such as wolves and cats for their fursonas, others drift towards squids or dragons.Gabriel, who joined Singapore Furries when he was 23, says: “Some people find their first friends at 30 years old in the furry community. There’s a lot less stigma and judgment which helps a lot for people who might think of it as escapism.”Lyra adds: “We don’t ask you to try and change yourself or to express yourself in a different way. I feel like this is so easy to take for granted when you’re in a furry bubble.“When you’re in a furry convention, suited up or not, it’s so easy to make friends with just random people passing in the corridor. One compliment later, you get into a conversation and, suddenly, you’re just friends.”“That’s not something that happens in everyday life,” she says, noting that there are few other avenues in Singapore where one is as free to reinvent oneself without others seeing one as “very weird”.Furries of the RepublicAlthough elements of the furry sub-culture coalesce around popular cartoon media, it was the rise of the borderless internet that brought furry fandom to wider attention here.Singapore Furries now counts more than 500 members on its Discord and Telegram platforms, though the actual number of furries in Singapore likely runs higher, as many participate in other online communities not specific to Singapore.As one of Singapore’s early furries, Ark – pictured in his fursuit – has been with the community since the days it communicated over MSN and Skype.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIMFor Ark (the name of his fursona), a 35-year-old nurse who has been a furry since 2010, the group has become an inseparable part of his daily life, with members of the fandom forming the bulk of his social circle. Between conventions in hotels and mega meets at outdoor spaces, Singapore’s furries come together – mostly without fursuits – to do everything from barbecues to hikes to cafe meet-ups. “We’ve even rented out entire movie theatres before,” says Ark.Furries speaking to ST say that widely held misconceptions of the group exist due to media coverage in the United States focusing on the sub-culture’s unusual nature and sexual practices. “It’s sex; it’s religion; it’s a whole new way of life,” wrote one Vanity Fair report from 2001.Many still associate the furry fandom with sexual fetishes. In response, Singapore furries strongly counter this, saying that most internet fandom groups have “adult” elements that do not receive the same level of scrutiny. They add that such elements make up only a small part of the sub-culture’s presence here.These days, the prevailing attitude towards furries in Singapore appears to be a mixture of confusion and fascination.Ark (right) picked his wolf fursona because he loves the idea of being part of a pack of close friends.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIMWhen Ark dons his teal wolf fursuit – which he had custom-made in 2015 for US$2,900 (S$3,800) by an American fursuit creator – for a walkabout at VivoCity with ST, his normally soft-spoken demeanour gives way to a cheerful, expressive persona as he draws crowds of curious onlookers.Many families with children or students approach to ask for selfies with the larger-than-life cartoon wolf. Part of the fun, says Ark, comes from learning to communicate non-verbally while in a suit – with exaggerated waves and high-fives – something that often delights members of the public.Gabriel says things were not always so inclusive and open for Singapore’s furries. Before 2018, Singapore Furries’ membership numbered in the mere dozens. Joining then required a vote from all existing members, due to fear about the stigma that has long plagued the fandom.Singapore Furries joined 2025’s edition of the Chingay Parade in February.PHOTO: SINGAPORE FURRIESThe tide of opinion began to shift in 2018 when Gabriel began organising in-person meet-ups. He recalls asking a restaurant if it had enough tables to accommodate 40, only for more than 80 furries to later turn up and overwhelm the space.These days, the group organises quarterly “mega meets” that draw hundreds, mostly at outdoor venues like the Sentosa Boardwalk, as well as an annual Little Island Furcon event in June that draws furries from abroad. This is now the seventh year of the event, normally held at One Farrer Hotel.The year 2024 saw Singapore’s first furry wedding, when the couple walked down the aisle in fox and wolf fursuits, flanked by furry friends in attendance.More than suitsOne popular misconception is that furries exclusively hang out in their fursuits. In reality, most furry events feature no suits at all.There are practical reasons for this. Fursuits, being hot and bulky, leave one drenched in perspiration after just minutes of walking around in humid Singapore. Many malls and places of businesses also cautiously ask those in fursuits to remove their outfits or leave.There is also the price of donning one. Fursuits can exceed $5,000 in cost, due to the time taken and materials necessary to create each custom-made outfit.The vast majority of furries here do not own a fursuit. Gabriel estimates that only around 20 per cent of Singapore’s furry community have one.For many, like 30-year-old game developer Amadeus, who declined to give his last name, a fursuit is optional for being part of the sub-culture.“I don’t think it’s that important to have one,” he says. “I see it as a luxury sort of thing, where not having one doesn’t make you any less of a furry.”He adds that using his online cat fursona has connected him with people both in Singapore and abroad. “Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be able to make friends with someone from halfway across the world and nerd out about coffee and hiking,” he says.The furry economyJason commissioned this illustration of his fursona for US$520 (S$680).PHOTO: ROYZWhile participating in the sub-culture is free, that has not stopped some from spending thousands.Jason, a 31-year-old founder of a tech start-up who declined to give his last name, spent US$4,500 (S$5,900) on the fursuit of his fursona, Ace, an anthropomorphic dog that is a mixed breed of border collie, heeler and wolf. He ordered it online from a Taiwanese fursuit maker.“I’ve always loved dogs and found myself struggling to pick one breed that best represented me. So, in the end, Ace became a mutt,” he says.Jason/Ace at a furry convention in Thailand.PHOTO: COURTESY OF JASONAnother big expense comes in the form of the annual conventions that represent the physical side of this otherwise largely online sub-culture. Across the world, but especially in the US cities of Pittsburgh and Atlanta, furries book ballrooms and convention halls to host thousands for panel discussions, merchandise sales and events to strut their stuff.The city of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania estimates that the 2024 annual Anthrocon furry convention, which drew over 15,000 attendees, contributed to US$17.4 million in direct visitor spending. Singapore’s annual furry convention, Little Island Furcon, is much smaller in scale, drawing just over 300 visitors in 2024.Jason typically attends six of these furry conventions abroad each year. In the past year alone, he has spent over $4,500 on convention tickets and travel expenses as part of trips to Taiwan, Malaysia and China.The crowd at 2024’s Little Island Furcon in Singapore, not including those present who did not don fursuits.PHOTO: SINGAPORE FURRIESHe describes the experience of going to a convention as otherworldly because it involves stepping out of the “normie” (non-furry) world and into one where everyone else is a furry.Amid the sea of bodies, one can usually spy dozens in their fursuits, which is partly why furry conventions are typically held in climate-controlled spaces. Those not decked out in full suits typically have accessories, badges or partial costumes representing their fursonas.For many, these conventions are also the first time that they meet their friends from far-off places in person.This, along with the sub-culture’s interest in custom art and accessories, has enabled many independent crafters, themselves furries, to make a living off selling exclusively to furries. The art of being yourselfLyra, who wrote her undergraduate dissertation on Singapore’s furry community, says many come into the community in their late teens and early 20s, while they are still developing a sense of who they are.“They’re still kind of building who they are – not just in a furry sense like discovering your fursona, but also discovering who you are and growing as a person,” she says.In largely-conformist Singapore, furry spaces offer something different. Art and illustrations – especially in how it relates to seeing yourself in the world around you – forms the creative backbone of the community.Sky, pictured in a partial fursuit, says the community’s shared love of art brings together people from all walks of life.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIMSky (her fursona name), who joined Singapore Furries when she was 16 and uses a rat fursona, says the sub-culture offers a sense of belonging that can be difficult to find elsewhere.As someone who was frequently in and out of school because of health reasons, she found it difficult to stay in touch with her old friends when their lives diverged upon graduation.In contrast, the furry community is full of people from different walks of life who might never have crossed paths outside the sub-culture. Now in her 20s and a postgraduate student, she adds: “We’re already used to the idea of having to make a distinct effort to spend time together, to find mutually stimulating conversation topics that weren’t about teachers or tutorials.”YCH (your character here) is one popular style of art commission in the furry community, in which buyers purchase a space for their fursona in a pre-drawn background.PHOTO: PLACEBOSKIESIllustrations are a focal point of the community, which helps those who are LGBTQ+ or neurodivergent, or who struggle with in-person connection, come together without words. “There’s a lot of stuff you can express in art that you can’t express through photos,” Gabriel notes.Many members commission art from creators in the community to represent the fursonas of both themselves and their friends.Through these illustrations, same-sex couples who feel unsafe displaying public affection can commission artwork of their fursonas together, while trans members can visualise themselves in their preferred gender through their characters.Furry art commissioned by Gabriel.PHOTO: SHERBETFurries say that their sub-culture has helped many of its members come out of their shells in the real world. The cross-cutting nature of furry fandom has also spawned numerous other sub-communities. This is visible at Singapore Furries’ quarterly mega meets, where different groups enthuse over everything from tea to custom keyboards to poetry.“It’s another strength of the community,” says Sky. “You can feel for yourself whether this is an interest that you actually like, without the pressure of having to do well or being in front of a big community.”It is almost like a “stepping stone”, she says, towards the meaner, non-furry world. Join ST’s WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.