Something a little different for you this week.The capybara is a native of South America, and when I visited the Biological park de Guia some years ago I took these photos of this very large rodent, which is the largest rodent in the world, but I never shared my photos until today. The capybara are social animals, often described as calm, relaxed, and compassionate, even adopting wild strays and abandoned young from other litters. They are very friendly, get along with humans and make friends with other animals as well. Crocodiles and capivaras are the best of friends and often can be seen swimming together, as the crocodile does not see the capivara as a threat because of it's calm disposition. The capybara has webbed feet to help it swim and escape from it's preditores. They live in herds and are herbivorous rodents, they are active at twilight, feeding on grass and aquatic vegetation. Their twilight activity is likely because capivaras have fewer predators to fear, almost all animals love them. They are however threatened by jaguars ocelots which steal their young, eagles, and the dreaded anaconda, but their main threat is from humans. They are hunted extensively for their meat and their hide,which is made into leather coats. It is a great shame that this kind and gentle creature should be hunted at all.
