What Do Owls Look Like Without Feathers? 8 “Naked” Animals That Will Blow Your Mind

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Written by: Jack Clayton

Last Updated: 12 Jan 2017

First things first. We’re not prudish. Yes, we’re British and so were inevitably born with some prudishness inbuilt but, by and large, we like to think we’re pretty chill about the whole nudity thing. If people want to be naked, we say: “Yeah, that’s cool. To hell with society’s rules. Be naked. Be liberated. Be wild and free.” And then, earlier this week, we saw a photo of an owl without its feathers (number one on this list, FYI) and quite frankly the image was so haunting that it’s made us rethink some things when it comes to nudity. Mainly: owls should never ever be photographed without their feathers. Feathers are an owl’s clothes, and without their clothes owls just look like 50 shades of f*cked up; a flying demon from the worst nightmare you’ve ever had. No matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t shake the featherless owl from our mind’s eye. Driven by morbid curiosity and a desperation to think about something other than a featherless owl for a bit, we started researching what different animals look like without their fur, hair, feathers etc. Here’s what we discovered.

1) Owl

You already know about this owl, and how much it messed us up.

2) Spectacled Bear

Vets were left baffled in 2009 when spectacled bears at a zoo in Leipzig started losing all their fur. Experts believed it could be down to a genetic defect. Pictured here is a bear called Dolores.

3) Raccoon

Raccoons can sometimes develop parasitic infestations, such as mange or fungal infections, that consequently cause their hair to fall out.

4) Hedgehog

This is Betty; a bald hedgehog looked after by the Foxy Lodge Rescue Centre in the UK. The cause of this baldness is unknown, but we’re happy to report that it doesn’t have a negative effect on the health of a hedgehog.

5) Parrot

Like an owl without its feathers, only slightly less horrifying.

6) Rabbit

This bunny rabbit became an internet sensation in 2009 when he was born without fur. After three months, the rabbit grew its first ever coat and looked like a normal rabbit.

7) Penguin

This penguin, born without feathers at an aquarium in China’s Liaoning Province, was sadly rejected by his parents. Aquarium workers decided that the penguin’s lack of feathers and generally weak condition was down to problems digesting food and absorbing nutrition. Because of the keepers intervention, the bird was able to grow a feathery coat and be reunited with its family. Awwwwww. Gets you right in the feels, doesn’t it?

8) Chimpanzee

Chimpanzees, just like their human counterparts, sometimes suffer from alopecia.