St. Pete's Capybara Cafe offers cute, furry fun

The Capybara Caf� just opened in St. Petersburg and provides a chance to interact with capybaras and other animals.

St. Petersburg, Fla. - The Capybara Café in St. Petersburg is an animal experience where guests can safely interact with capybaras and other rescued animals. A food truck in front offers food.

Guests can interact with capybaras, rabbits, hamsters, lambs and tortoises in the lounge. In the private rooms, guests can interact with lemurs, wallabies, and armadillos.

"When we first started talking about animal ambassadors, we thought of opossums, skunks, and kundamundi, but capybaras just really stood out," said cafe co-founder Stephanie Angel.

All animal interactions are supervised and are designed to be calm for both the animals and the guests.

When asked about Capybaras, Angel said, "They are nature's best friend, but also dubbed nature's chair and it's great to have people interact with wildlife that's gonna be safe and fun."

Employees of the café teach visitors about conservation and proper animal care.

The backstory:

St. Petersburg is the second location for the Capybara Cafe. The first location was opened in St. Augustine. It was co-founded Angel who also runs Noah's Ark Sanctuary.

Many of the animals come from the sanctuary.

Most of the funds from the Capybara Cafe help support Noah's Ark Sanctuary, which rescues animals in need of new homes.