Therian Movement Calls First Gathering in Culiacán, Sparking Debate Over Non-Human Identity in Mexico

Culiacán, Sinaloa — Mexico is moving beyond memes to seriously examine the therian movement, a non-human identity community that has become the subject of psychological study and now plans its first gatherings in the country.

A TikTok video that circulated widely this week shows two young people wearing canine masks walking on all fours in Culiacán’s popular Parque Las Riberas. The footage, picked up by local media in Sinaloa, shows no signs of editing or artificial intelligence manipulation, according to image analysis. Additional videos from different angles have also surfaced.

The sighting went viral within hours, fueled by growing interest in the therian movement following viral cases in South America, particularly Argentina, where members were allegedly involved in an assault on a minor.

Online forums and social media platforms have become polarized over therians. The Parque Las Riberas sighting isn’t isolated — a Facebook event has generated anticipation for a gathering at the same location on February 21. Along with a supposed meeting at Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City, these would represent the first organized gatherings of this community in Mexico.

What Are Therians?

Therian is short for therianthropy, derived from Greek mythology describing spiritual beings with hybrid human-animal characteristics capable of transformation. A therian identifies spiritually with an animal while remaining fully aware of their biological human reality — a crucial distinction in psychological study.

The community first emerged in the early 1990s as the internet provided a meeting point for people interested in horror cinema and its symbols, particularly werewolves. Usenet newsgroups became forums where participants discussed perceiving aspects of wolf and other animal natures as part of their identity.

Psychological Perspectives

Psychology approaches therian identity from multiple angles since no official diagnostic manual (like the DSM-5) directly classifies it. Mental health professionals and academic researchers have analyzed the phenomenon through several frameworks.

Non-Human Identity and Well-being: Most psychologists who have studied the community, including the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, suggest that for the majority, it isn’t pathological. They view it as a form of self-expression and belonging, with studies indicating therians don’t show higher rates of psychosis or delusions than the general population and maintain full awareness of their human biological reality.

Species Dysphoria: Though not an official clinical term, many therians describe something similar to gender dysphoria applied to species — feeling a disconnect between their human physical body and internal animal identity. Psychology observes that activities like quadrobics (running on all fours) or using accessories can serve as emotional regulation tools to alleviate this discomfort.

Neurodivergence and Therianism: Psychology is beginning to document an interesting statistical correlation: a significant percentage of the therian community identifies as neurodivergent, particularly within the autism spectrum or with ADHD. Some psychologists suggest that autistic people, who sometimes struggle with “arbitrary” human social norms, might find animal identity a more honest, instinctive, and comprehensible reference framework.

Differentiation from Clinical Lycanthropy: Psychology emphasizes the vital distinction between being therian and clinical lycanthropy. Clinical lycanthropy is a rare psychotic disorder where patients have the delusion they are actually transforming into animals or physically are animals. Therianism is an identity — individuals know they’re human but feel their internal “self” is animal, with complete preservation of reality judgment.

Generally, modern psychology tends to view the therian movement as an identity subculture or niche identity.