When South Korean café owner Lee Kwang-ho decided to add a couple of sheep to his payroll, it was the best business move of his life. Since 2011, the fluffy employees at Nature Café have been attracting hordes of animal lovers and tourists. The shop serves all the café staples such as coffee, tea, and cake, but it all seems sort of extra-special when enjoyed in the company of a couple of fluffy sheep.

According to Lee, the café’s popularity has spiked recently because according to the lunar calendar 2015 is the Year of the Sheep. So lots of people want to see sheep, and the café is more convenient than seeking them out on a ranch. 21-year-old Lee Hyeon-ji agreed: “We were planning to go to a sheep ranch , but it’s too far and we didn’t have enough time to go there. Then we heard about this place where we can see sheep in Seoul and came to this sheep cafe.”

Photo: World Interior

“I don’t know how this place was known to the world, but I have had visitors from all over the world coming to see my sheep, from Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, even some countries I don’t know well,” Lee added.

Photo: World Interior

Animal-themed cafés have always been a big hit, as we’ve seen in the past. Like this dog café in South Korea where you can hang out with over 20 dogs of different breeds. Cat cafés are hugely popular in Japan, where having pets isn’t always an option due to space issues. Japan also has owl cafés for people who prefer to chill with the birds. And then there’s the Pet Café in Vietnam that offers its patrons a very different dining experience – with snakes, rats, lizards, tarantulas and even a few hedgehogs!

Photo: Kimchi Teaching

via The Independent