Winston, one of the six owls at Soho's pop-up bar.

Profits to be donated to the Barn Owl Centre

An "owl cocktail bar" is set to open in Soho, London, for a week next month. Visitors will be able to drink two cocktails and spend two hours in the company of the owl pack.

The themed bar, called Annie the Owl, was inspired by Tokyo's owl cafes, where visitors can pay to look at, pet and even hold the resident owls. Japan is also well known for its cat cafes, which have inspired two similar establishments in the UK - Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium in London and Maison de Moggy in Scotland.

More than 2,000 people have already applied to attend Annie the Owl. As the bar will only be open from March 19-25, a ballot system has been introduced. Organisers will select a certain number of successful applicants, who will be able to attend the bar.

All profits will be donated to the Barn Owl Centre in Gloucestershire. Tickets are £20 per person, which includes two cocktails and two hours at the venue.

Organisers say they have taken all possible steps to ensure the welfare of the animals. Visitors will be served a maximum of two drinks and will be able to spend no more than two hours at the venue.

The six owls are from a professional falconry centre where they are used to being around members of the public. During the sit-down event, each owl will also be accompanied by a professional falconer.

Visitors will not be able to touch or come into close contact with the owls unless the professional falconers believe this is appropriate. An instruction pack explaining this will be sent to each attendee before the event.

According to organisers, efforts have been made to ensure noise and background music will be kept at a minimum and each owl will only have 10-12 people around them at a time.

Professional falconers have also been consulted to ensure the animals are provided with a suitable environment and housing with or apart from other animals, with an appropriate diet and water available.

The animals will be able to exhibit normal behaviour and events will run during the night. The professional falconers will also be on hand to protect the owls from discomfort or danger.

Image courtesy of Locappy