When Dobby lived here, we had a constant stream of visitors. He entertained fans from all over the country. He was a birthday surprise, a wedding anniversary gift, and a bucket list item. Capybara encounters were not a thing, yet.

Sure, you could poke around in Texas (where roadside petting zoos are common) and hope to find an attraction with capybaras. You could travel to Japan and meander through a zoo herd. In Tokyo they have had cat cafes for a while, but they are cuckoo for capybaras and eventually brought a few into cafes. There’s even a hotel in Japan with free roaming capybaras outside your window!

Capybaras have finally gained popularity outside of Japan and are more common in North American zoos  than ever before. Suddenly, those zoos with capybaras have begun to offer hands-on visits with them. Finally, we are seeing a few capybara “cafes” outside of Japan.

A couple of my friends recently checked out Capyfriends Cafe in Georgia. They had a fantastic experience and sent photos and videos. It looks like a fun place to visit!

I have visited capybaras in many different circumstances and they are not all equal. The AZA zoos can generally be trusted to provide a quality experience with informed keepers dedicated to the health and safety of both animals and guests. Some of the petting zoos are less diligent, leaving visitors to wonder how healthy the experience is for the capybaras. Indoor cafes are a new phenomenon and time will tell how they fare.

Let’s try that again. How about you tell me about your capybara experiences? I hear about new places every day but there’s no way I can check them all out. Contact me through the Capybara Spotters Club tab, above. (That’s where I collect the zoo sightings. That list gets updated regularly, mostly due to comments from you. I plan to indicate on the zoo list where encounters are available.)

As comments come in, I will update this post, somehow, with the goal of providing a thumbs up/down review for each. Some encounters are expensive and others are so popular you have to reserve a spot months in advance. I haven’t figured out the review part yet, so bear with me.

Okay, here we go. I’m starting with a brief list with a few capybara encounters I have heard about. It isn’t in any way complete and there are certainly no guarantees. I’m also not interested in having anyplace sue me for saying bad things about their dodgy business. If you send me a disparaging report I will take it seriously by quietly removing the encounter from the list until I can verify the issue. Glowing reviews coming from capybara encounter business owners will receive a skeptical perusal, but I expect that most comments will come from impartial participants. The list below is in no particular order.

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Capybara Encounters – Check back for updates!

North America

Capyfriends Cafe, Helen, Georgia; https://www.capyfriendscafe.com/

Capybara Cafe, Jacksonville, FL (St. Augustine); https://thecapybaracafe.com/experiences/

Capybara Café, St. Petersburg, Florida; https://capybaracafestpete.com/experiences/

Gatorland, Orlando, Florida; https://www.gatorland.com/animals/meet-a-capybara/

Zoo World, Panama City Beach, Florida; https://www.zooworldpcb.com/animal-adventures

Nurtured by Nature, Valley Center, California; https://nurturedbynature.org/capyhour-encounters/

Pine Meadow Alpacas, Mattapoisett, Massachusetts; https://www.pinemeadowalpacas.com/

Animal World Snake Farm Zoo, New Braunfels, Texas; https://www.awsfzoo.com/plan-your-event/animal-encounters-2/

Texas Wildlife Park, Mountain Home, Texas; https://www.texaswildlifepark.com/our-zoo#AnimalEncounters

Conservation Ambassadors, South Campus, Paso Robles, California; https://www.conservationambassadors.org/experiences/wildlife-connections-private-encounter/

Conservation Ambassadors, Wild Things, Weimar, California; https://wildthingsoutreach.org/wildlife-programs/

Kangaroo Creek Farm, Kelowna, BC, Canada; https://www.kangaroocreekfarm.com/your-visit/

Europe

Twycross Zoo , Atherstone, England; https://twycrosszoo.org/tickets-experiences/animal-experiences/

Hertfordshire Zoo, Broxbourne, England; https://hertfordshirezoo.com/experiences/animal-experiences/capybara-and-tapir/

Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent, England; https://winghamwildlifepark.co.uk/experiences/capybara-experiences/

Asia

IZU Resort Villa (Hotel),Shizuoka, Japan; https://izu-resort-villa.com/en/

Cafe Capyba , Hikifune and Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan; https://cspace.co.jp/en/home_english/

Capybara Cafe Moffu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan; https://www.instagram.com/capybaracafe.tokyo/

Capyneko, Harajuku, Tokyo; https://capyneko.tokyo/

Bulu Bulu Cafe, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia; https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ0eE8TEysE/?hl=en

Capybara House (Shabu Restaurant), Taipei, Taiwan ; https://portaly.cc/capybarahousetw

Leofoo Resort, Guanshi, Taiwan; https://www.leofooresort.com.tw/zh-TW/activities/animal-experiences/694

Capybara Knight Cafe, Xinbei, Taiwan; https://www.facebook.com/capybaraknight

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This post was brought to you by Stacy’s Funny Farm, a non-profit pet sanctuary. We hope you will be inspired to make a donation. We especially appreciate monthly giving- the PayPal portal offers that option. If you want to help but are short on cash, head over to Dobby’s YouTube channel.  There are hundreds of capybara videos there. We’re monetized and those ads pay out nicely, so please watch, share, and subscribe.

Stacy’s Funny Farm is a §501(c)(3) non-profit organization.