Man faces legal action after giving chocolate to marmot because he “felt sorry” for it

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A man in Japan is in trouble with the law after giving a marmot at an animal cafe chocolate because he thought the animal’s food wasn’t good enough.

The incident happened at Marmot Village in Osaka, Japan – a unique cafe where you can interact with live marmots. It’s similar to a cat cafe, but instead of cats, you can pet and hold these adorable animals.

These adorable animals have gained popularity online recently because their funny expressions and loud noises are ideal for creating memes and shareable videos.

Marmots, like most animals, don’t typically eat chocolate, even the special Pokémon-themed candy Hershey’s recently released. That’s why a man in Japan got in trouble with the police when he gave a marmot he’d befriended a sweet snack.

Don’t feed marmots chocolate!

I read this crazy story on Livedoor News! Apparently, back on January 11, 2026, a worker in his thirties gave this adorable one-year-old marmot named Warabi some chocolate. It sounds sweet, right? But it turns out chocolate is actually poisonous to marmots, which is just awful!

Chocolate is dangerous for many animals because it contains a substance called theobromine, which their bodies have trouble breaking down. Even a little bit can make animals like dogs, cats, and rodents sick.

This is concerning for the marmots’ well-being at the cafe. Luckily, staff reported that Warabi quickly spit out the chocolate and seems to be doing fine.

The man explained to police that he gave the marmot a treat because he felt bad that it only ever ate its regular food.

This year has seen some strange animal-related events in Japan, but the most recent is particularly unusual: two tourists were arrested after one of them entered the enclosure of Punch, the baby monkey who became famous online.

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2026-05-20 16:19