Overview
This is the world's largest rodent. In captivity females grow larger than males. This animal's long course hair is so sparse that the skin is visible. The coloration is generally reddish brown to grayish brown on the upper parts. The underside of the Capybara is yellowish brown. Occasionally there is black coloration on the face and the outer side of the limbs and the rump. Mature males have a raised bare area on top of the snout containing enlarged sebaceous glands. The limbs are short and the head is relatively large and broad. The ears are short and rounded, the upper lip is enlarged and the capybara eyes are small and are placed dorsally setting far back on the head.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Family
- Caviidae
- Genus
- Hydrochaeris
Habitat
The capybara inhabits very densely vegetated areas around lakes, rivers, streams, marshes and swamps. Distribution- The east side of the canal zone in Panama, from Columbia and the Guiana's to Uruguay and northeastern Argentina.
Diet
Capybaras are herbivores, grazing mainly on grasses and aquatic plants, as well as fruit and tree bark. While they eat grass during the wet season, they have to switch to more abundant reeds during the dry season.
Behavior
They are gregarious. While they sometimes live solitarily, they are more commonly found in groups that average 10–20 individuals, with two to four adult males, four to seven adult females and the remainder, juveniles. Capybara groups can consist of as many as 50 or 100 individuals during the dry season when the animals gather around available water sources. Males establish social bonds, dominance, or, general group census. They can make dog-like barks when threatened or when females are herding young.
Hunting
The Capybara can be hunted on the east side of the Andes in South America.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.