Ella Collins was 16 when she first encountered the world of furries after a friend invited her to a BBQ.
"I got there and I was like, 'What is this?'," she said.
"It was a few people in costume, a lot of people out of costume — it was just this really interesting mix of communities coming together under one banner and I was hooked."
Furries are people who create anthropomorphic identities, often called fursonas, and it is estimated there are several thousand in Australia.
As a subculture, however, the world of furries is something of a mystery to many, as it's rarely encountered in everyday life.
But, as hundreds of furries prepare for the 2021 national furry convention on the Gold Coast in just over six weeks' time, devotees explain that it's not just about dressing up as animals.
The psychological benefits of creating a fursona can be life-changing, they say — a statement recently supported by international research into the phenomenon.
Felix, a furry who lives in Terang in south-west Victoria, put it simply.
"You don't need a suit, you just need the love," Felix said.
Fursona reflects ideal persona
Sharon Roberts, an associate professor of social development studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, says the furry world is growing in popularity because it is a safe, welcoming and non-judgemental community.
Dr Roberts is a founding member of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), "a multidisciplinary team of scientists studying the furry fandom".
The IARP was partly formed to investigate some of the claims and perceptions around the furry community after a Vanity Fair article called Pleasure of the Fur and an episode of TV series CSI called Fur and Loathing painted a largely depraved and highly sexualised picture of furries.
But Dr Roberts says the project researchers have discovered a very different side of furry culture, one that creates a positive environment that can greatly benefit its members — about 70 per cent of whom identify as LGBTQI+.
"The fursona is this avatar-like representation of self that furries create," she said.
"They're usually imbued with positive attributes and they're often idealised versions of the self.
"What the research has shown is that these self-created identities have incredible benefits to the person in all kinds of ways."
She said only "about 20 to 25 per cent of furries have fur suits", some of which cost thousands of dollars and are custom-made.
"They might have ears or tails or wear a dog collar, but a lot of furries don't wear anything like that at all," she said.
"Most of the time they're going through life like everyone else."
'She's an integral part of my life'
Ms Collins, who lives in Melbourne, says her character Pocket, who she describes as being "a deer crossed with a bird", has changed her life.
"I used to take Pocket on and off, but now she's become such an integral part of my life that she's become my confidence, so to speak," Ms Collins said.
"I get a lot of my confidence from the fact that I've done all these things with Pocket and now I can do them with Ella.
"Some people are very, very shy outside of their fur suit and their fur suit gives them that confidence to interact with other people because it's like putting on a mask."
For Felix, the experience of going out in public while in costume can be quite stressful.
"When I was first doing it, I went into a Maccas and there were people everywhere and I was like, 'Oh no, they're all looking at me'," they said.
"Someone asked me, 'Is it hot in there?', and I just squeaked in response because I was so anxious and I didn't want them to hear what my voice sounded like."
Now, however, Felix finds the experience of "suiting up" an empowering one.
"You put on the head and it's like becoming a whole different character," they said.
"No-one can see my face and I can go and do whatever I want because no-one can see me and no-one can judge me."
Characters have lasting impact
Felix discovered furry culture by accident in year 7.
"I was really into [Japanese] anime, and was looking up nekos [people with cat ears]," they explained.
"I didn't know what they were so I just looked up animal people and found furries.
"I was like, oh my God, this is amazing!"
Felix taught themselves to make costumes, and now has several characters, all with their own personalities and characteristics, right down to the way they stand and move.
Dr Roberts says fursonas can have lasting impacts.
"There's so much thought that goes into the detail of these characters," Dr Roberts said.
"Often they are more positive, they're more confident — [the fursona] in younger generations is more social, funnier and light.
"Often in longitudinal studies we see that people take on those attributes because they get an opportunity in a very safe environment to begin practising with those sets of skills.
"So, it's a fantastic way for people to connect and communicate, particularly if they're a little bit shy."
Furry Down Under (FurDU) chairperson and convention organiser Christine Bradshaw agrees, and says her fursona — a snow leopard called Foxy Malone — initially gave her the social confidence she lacked.
"I never thought I would get up and talk in front of a crowd of 500 people, but that's something I've done and will be doing again soon at the next convention," she said.
These days, she said, it's hard to know where Christine ends and Foxy begins.
"Foxy Malone is basically me. I've had her for so long it's basically me," she said.
Ms Bradshaw said when she joined the furry world in Brisbane 20 years ago, there were only about a dozen in the group. Now, there are more than 200 in Brisbane alone.
Most furries are LGBTQI+
The supportive nature of the furry community as a place for people who might struggle to fit in is backed up by Ms Collins.
"It definitely draws an alternative type of person but, having said that, when you put a group of people together who have the same interest, no-one's strange or different," she said.
According to IARP data, about 70 per cent of furries identify as being from the LGBTQI+ community, but Ms Bradshaw said the figure was probably slightly lower in Australia.
Dr Roberts said the project's research found between 12 and 17 per cent of furries identified as trans, and between 5 and 15 per cent were autistic.
"What's fascinating to me is you have all those collections of marginalised identities — and people are thriving," she said.
"When we compare the wellbeing of the furry fandom to our population level controls, there are no differences in those things, and to me that's amazing."
Ms Bradshaw said it was important for the wider community not to judge furries.
"We're just there to have fun, and dressing up as giant, colourful animals is fun," she said.
"It's not hurting anybody. People can dress up as superheroes and that's OK, but for some reason, dressing up as a giant animal is seen as weird, and I'll be honest, it kind of is, but it's fun."
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