Capybara Café opens in Fort Lauderdale; PETA isn't pleased

• The other locations are in St. Petersburg and St. Augustine.

Driving the news: The cafe, which doesn't actually serve any food or drinks, opened on Sept. 18 and has quickly gone viral.

Zoom in: For $59, guests spend 30 minutes in the lounge interacting with capybaras, maras, ferrets, bunnies and reptiles.

• Each guest gets a piece of kale with their ticket to feed the capybaras. They can buy an additional leaf for $1.
• There's also a private Capybara Encounter for up to 10 guests for $216.
• They can get the best of both worlds with the $99 Capybara and Friends Encounter, spending 55 minutes with capybaras and at least one exotic animal, such as a ferret, opossum or armadillo.
• If they'd rather meet a fennec fox or armadillo, they can book the $49 Sunset Safari.

Zoom out: Noah's Ark Sanctuary, a nonprofit that rescues and rehabilitates animals in need, owns the cafe and houses more than 100 wild animals, including foxes, skunks, squirrels and raccoons, on its property in St. Johns County.

• Owner Stephanie Angel opened her first location in St. Augustine two years ago to support the rehab clinic, which couldn't afford the animals' medicine and was at risk of closing, she told the Washington Post.

Friction point: Meanwhile, animal rights organization PETA is calling on the city of Fort Lauderdale to close the cafe, claiming the location isn't zoned for a wild-animal petting zoo.

• Its letter also asserts that the animals are living in a residential property when the cafe is closed, which isn't zoned for an "animal-oriented business."

The other side: A city spokesperson told Axios in an email that city staff haven't found a zoning or land use violation "that would provide a basis for the city to take action against the business."

• However, the city did issue a citation for housing wild animals at the residential property referenced by PETA and opened a code case for work without a permit related to an outdoor animal enclosure and pond.
• "The owner has until Oct. 8 to bring the property into compliance in regard to housing the animals," the email reads. "Similarly, the owner has until Oct. 14 to address the building code violation."
• The cafe didn't respond to Axios' requests for comment.

My morning with capybaras

I visited the cafe on Thursday morning to meet the rodents everyone's obsessing over.

State of play: I booked a spot in the lounge and bought an extra kale leaf for $1.

• Before entering, the staff gave a brief overview about how to interact and feed the five capybaras, which are 4 to 5 months old and about 15 pounds.
• There are seven capybaras on site. The staff calls them the Seven Dwarfs.

Inside the room: Initially, the capybaras and the Patagonian mara, which looked like a cross between a capybara and kangaroo, crowded around us for kale.

• They were very friendly and climbed onto our laps, but once we ran out of kale, they relaxed and hung out by themselves. Some did enjoy our back scratches.

• There was also a white bunny roaming around and a bird talking quite a bit. The staff also let me say hi to the 6-week-old ferrets.
• During my session, there were six of us — three of whom were tourists from Iowa and New Jersey who read about the lounge online.

The vibe: Once our 30 minutes were up, I visited the gift shop where they're selling merch and a variety of plush toys.

• I wasn't able to go inside the private rooms, but I saw the fennec foxes and armadillo through the window.

💬 Naomi's thought bubble: I enjoyed seeing and meeting capybaras in person. They were as friendly and chill as advertised. It definitely will be a hit with tourists.

• I'm not sure I'll be racing back, given the price tag. But I did promise my brother-in-law I'd go back with him.