The curious sight of the world's largest rodent, the capybara, is becoming increasingly common in an unlikely setting: animal cafes across Asia. On the second floor of a Bangkok office building, three of these South American natives reside in a small enclosure, attracting dozens of customers paying for selfies and petting sessions.
The Internet Fame Driving Demand
This continental trend is directly linked to the animal's burgeoning internet celebrity status. With more than 600,000 TikTok posts featuring the semi-aquatic creatures, their popularity has skyrocketed. In Bangkok's establishment, visitors pay 400 baht (£9.40) for thirty minutes with capybaras, alongside meerkats and Chinese bamboo rats.
Elizabeth Congdon, a capybara biologist at Bethune-Cookman University, reflects on their sudden appeal: "They're just so weird. And then you combine that weirdness factor with how docile they are, how easy they are to keep in zoos, and how social they are."
Conservation Crisis Unfolding
Behind the cute selfies lies a troubling reality. The exotic animal cafe phenomenon that began with cat cafes in Taiwan in 1998 has evolved into a conservation concern. While South Korea recently cracked down on such establishments, they continue flourishing in cities from Ho Chi Minh to Guangzhou.
Timothy Bonebrake, a conservation biologist at the University of Hong Kong, states: "The amount of diversity and the number of animals – and, in particular, quite a few threatened animals – is very concerning."
A comprehensive study revealed that in 2019, Asia hosted 406 animal cafes, with over a quarter featuring exotic species. Alarmingly, nearly half of the 250 exotic species recorded were either threatened with extinction or had declining wild populations.
Illegal Trade Connections
Although capybaras themselves aren't endangered, with approximately 1.2 million in Brazil alone, their international movement often involves illegal channels. Exporting native wild capybaras remains illegal in several South American nations including Brazil, Argentina, and Peru.
Scott Roberton of the Wildlife Conservation Society explains: "Legal and illegal supply chains for live animals converge at multiple points, and are often controlled by the same people and companies."
Despite claims from the Bangkok cafe that their capybaras come from "ethical farms in Thailand," Roberton warns that "laundering of illegally caught animals into legal supply chains is very common."
The problem extends beyond capybaras. This year, research connected small-clawed otters in Japanese cafes to poaching hotspots in southern Thailand, violating bans on trading this vulnerable species.
Broader Environmental Impacts
The concerns don't stop at illegal trafficking. Countries like Costa Rica, where authorities recently seized five capybaras from traffickers, worry about invasive species risks. Capybaras breed rapidly, tolerate various temperatures, and have flexible diets, creating what Congdon describes as "a high risk for them to be invasive."
The business growth metrics are staggering. In China, corporations registered as petting zoos (including animal cafes) exploded from under 100 in 2020 to over 1,800 in 2025. While private pet ownership grew by 50% over five years, pet cafes expanded at an astonishing 200% annually.
Roberton highlights another worrying aspect: "Suddenly, you're encouraging people that there is this cool, big exotic animal that you can pet and feed. How many people leave that cafe and go, 'I want a baby capybara'?"
This demand stimulation effect prompted IUCN members to adopt a motion in October targeting the illegal pet trade, recognizing what Sue Lieberman of WCS calls an "out of control" global pet trade from a conservation perspective.
