Capybara

Capybaras are large rodents from South America, in fact they’re the biggest rodents in the world. They belong to a family of rodents called cavy rodents that populate South America.

Capybaras get their name from the Tupi language, an old language spoken by natives in Brazil. It means ‘one that eats slender leaves’ as they mostly eat grass.

They are herbivores that eat grass, water plants, fruit, and even tree bark. They are also very fussy eaters with favourite foods and will sometimes eat one plant and ignore all of the plants around it.

Capybaras live in wooded areas near water like rivers, swamps, and lakes. This is because they are semiaquatic, meaning they spend some of their time in the water. They are very good at swimming, they can even hold their breath for five minutes!

Capybaras live in groups of about twenty usually but big groups of up to one hundred have even been spotted. The numbers are usually bigger during the dry season as they all need to live near water.

They are born in litters of four, and the mother is pregnant for 130-150 days.

Capybaras are not endangered and continue to live very happily in South America.