Other name(s) FamousNiki Full Name Niki Owner Victoria Virta Breed Scottish Fold | Sex Male Training sitting upright Species Felis catus | |
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Anbumani, real name Niki (Russian: Ники), is a male Scottish Fold cat and an international celebrity on Instagram. FamousNiki became popular over the Internet (particularly in its native country, Russia) for its human-like behaviour, facial expressions and wide variety of unusual poses.
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Owner
The owner of Niki is Victoria Virta. She is a popular Russian media personality and business coach. She is the co-founder and co-owner of the digital studio Funaction, which owns the rights to the FamousNiki brand.
Popularity
FamousNiki became popular on the internet due to its ability to sit upright on its hind legs. According to Virta, FamousNiki possessed this ability even in his early years and his posture is not due to any deformity. She is cited as saying, "It’s just the way he feels comfortable." Another FamousNiki trademark is his ability to imitate a human by walking on just his hind legs.
In two years, FamousNiki gathered more than 127,000 followers on Instagram and more than 35,000 followers on Facebook. FamousNiki’s Russian admirers created a fan community on social network VKontakte, which boasts more than 1,000 members. One of FamousNiki’s photos is on “The 100 Most Important Cat Pictures of All Time Chart” according to BuzzFeed.
Media appearances
FamousNiki international media appearances include: Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Metro, Russia Today Spain, La Jalea, Klonblog, Entremujeres, Stufffeed, and others. Several television appearances were made on Russian and foreign TV channels. Niki has also appeared on a Russian News Service broadcast. In 2013, Niki's image was used by Franctasy, an artist from Hong Kong, who specializes in painting famous pets, to raise money for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Marketing
Virta distributes and sells merchandise under FamousNiki brand for his fans.
FamousNiki has advertising contracts from Russian and Nespresso.
A FamousNiki mobile game for iOS and Android is currently in production.
FamousNiki's biography, entitled “Story of a Cat”, is forthcoming.
