Eu adoro capivaras

by Liam Prado Seery

Being alert is important when you're often dinner for jaguars, pumas.Capybara are herbivores, and use their long, sharp teeth for grazing on grass and water plants. An adult capybara can eat 6-8 pounds of grass per day. During the dry season, when fresh grasses and water plants dry up, a capybara will eat reeds, grains, melons and squashes.

COMMON NAME: Capybara

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

TYPE: Mammals

DIET: Herbivore

GROUP NAME: Herd

AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: Up to 7 years

SIZE: 4.6 feet long: up to 2 feet high at shoulders

WEIGHT: 77 - 143 pounds

You thought the beaver was a rodent of unusual size? The capybara is twice that big—the biggest rodent on Earth. These impressive semi-aquatic mammals are found throughout much of northern and central South America, though a small invasive population has been seen in Florida. They're closely related to guinea pigs and rock cavies, and more distantly related to chinchillas and agouti.

Like beavers, capybaras are strong swimmers. Their pig-shaped bodies are adapted for life in bodies of water found in forests, seasonally flooded savannas, and wetlands. Their toes are partially webbed for paddling around, and their reddish to dark brown fur is long and brittle—perfect for drying out quickly on land. Small eyes, noses, and hairless ears are located high on their heads so that their faces remain exposed and alert when most of their body is submerged.

Unusual diet

Like other rodents, capybaras’ teeth grow continuously, and they wear them down by grazing on aquatic plants, grasses, and other plentiful plants. They also eat their own feces in the morning.capybaras eat their own poo. That's when their poo is protein rich from the high number of microbes digesting the previous day's meals. Because the grasses they eat are so hard to digest, eating their waste essentially allows them to digest it twice.

Breeding and population

Capybaras don’t mind being alone, but they also live in groups of up to 40. Their breeding season varies throughout the year depending on what habitat they live in and the availability of mates. Females usually have one litter of four to five young per year.

Though considered to have a stable population overall, in some areas capybaras are severely threatened by people who hunt them for their skin, and some local populations have been wiped out. Did you know that capybaras Can hold thier broth fOR UP TO 5 MINITS(we humans can hold our breath for 1 to 2 minutes).