capybara

 

(kăpĭbâr'ə) , mammal of Central and much of South America. It is the largest living member of the order Rodentia (the rodents) reaching a length of 4 ft (120 cm) and a weight of 75 to 100 lb (34–45 kg). Its brownish hair flecked with yellow is coarse and scanty, and its tail rudimentary. The feet are partially webbed, and there are four thick-nailed toes on the front feet and three on the hind feet. The capybara is an expert swimmer and diver. It eats vegetation and sometimes damages crops. It is hunted for food, its hide is made into gloves, and its bristles are used in brushes. It is also called water hog and carpincho. Capybaras are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Rodentia, family Hydrochoeridae.

Capybara
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Hystricomorpha Family: Caviidae Subfamily: Hydrochoerinae Genus: Hydrochoerus Species: H. hydrochaeris
Binomial name
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (Linnaeus, 1766)
Capybara range

Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris^[1], known as carpincho in Spanish and capivara in Portuguese^[2]) is the largest rodent still in existence in the world,^[3] related to guinea pigs, agouti, coyphillas and chinchillas.^[4] Its common name, derived from Kapiÿva in the Guarani Indian language,^[2] means "Master of the Grasses"^[5] while its scientific name, hydrochaeris, is Latin for "water hog."^[4] Capybaras have heavy, barrel-shaped bodies and short heads with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of their body that turns yellowish-brown underneath. Adult Capybaras may grow as long as  centimetres ( ft) and  centimetres ( ft) tall, weighing up to  kilograms ( lb).^[6][7][8][9] Capybaras have slightly webbed feet and no tail; their back legs are slightly longer than their front legs and their muzzles are blunt with eyes, nostrils, and ears on the top of their head.^[10] Capybaras have a total of 20 teeth.^[11] Females are slightly heavier than males.^[4]

Though now extinct, there once existed even larger capybaras that were eight times the size of modern capybaras (these rodents would have been larger than a grizzly bear).^[10][11]

Development

Capybara reaches sexual maturity within 18 months^[10] and breed when conditions are right, which can be once per year (such as in Brazil) or throughout the year (such as in Venezuela and Colombia). The male pursues a female and mounts when the female stops in water. Capybara gestation is 130-150 days and usually produces a litter of four capybara babies, but may produce between two and eight in a single litter.^[8] Birth is on land and the female will rejoin the group within a few hours of delivering the newborn capybaras, who will join the group as soon as they are mobile. Within a week the young can eat grass, but will continue to suckle - from any female in the group until weaned at about 16 weeks. Youngsters will form a group within the main group.^[10][5] The rainy season of April and May mark the peak breeding season.^[2] Like other rodents, the front teeth of Capybaras grow continually to compensate for the constant wearing-down of eating grasses.^[5]

When fully grown, a capybara will have coarse hair that is sparsely spread over their skin, making the capybara prone to sunburn. To prevent this, they may roll in mud to protect their skin from the sun.^[11] Their cheek teeth grow continuously.^[3]

Habitat

Capybara are semi-aquatic mammals^[9] found wild in much of South America (including Panama, Columbia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, French Guyana, Uruguay, Peru, and Paraguay^[5]) in densely forested areas near bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds and marshes,^[6][7] such as flooded savannah and along rivers in tropical forest.^[10] They roam in home ranges of 25-50 acres (10-20 ha).^[11]

Diet

Capybara is a herbivore (more specifically, a graminivore^[5]), grazing mainly on grasses and aquatic plants,^[6] as well as fruit and tree bark.^[7][9] An adult capybara will eat  kg ( lb) to  kilograms ( lb) of grasses per day.^[11]

Capybara's jaw hinge is non-perpindicular and they thus chew food by grinding back and forth rather than side-to-side.^[3]

Behavior

Capybaras are social animals, usually found in groups, between 10 and 30 (though looser groups of up to 100 sometimes can be formed),^[10] controlled by a dominant male^[6] (who will have a prominent scent gland on his nose^[10] used for smearing his scent on the grasses in his territory^[5]). They communicate through a combination of scent and sound, being very vocal animals with purrs and alarm barks,^[10] whistles and clicks, squeals and grunts.^[5]

Capybaras are excellent swimmers^[7] and can survive completely underwater for up to five minutes,^[6] an ability they will use to evade predators.^[7] If necessary, a Capybara can sleep underwater, keeping its nose just at the waterline.^[7]

Capybaras eat their own faeces in the morning in order to help digest the cellulose in the grass that forms their normal diet. During midday, as temperatures increase, Capybaras wallow in water to keep cool and then graze in late afternoons and early evenings. They sleep little, usually dozing off and on throughout the day and grazing into and through the night.^[10]

Conservation

Capybara are not on the IUCN list ^[4] and so not considered a threatened species; their population is stable through most of their South American ranges, though in some areas hunting has reduced their numbers.^[5][6] They have a lifespan of 4-8 years in the wild^[7] but average a life less than four years as they are "a favourite food of anacondas, jaguar, puma, ocelot, eagle and caiman".^[5]

Capybaras are hunted for their meat and skins in some areas, and otherwise killed by humans who see their grazing as competition for livestock. The skins are particularly prized for making fine gloves because of its odd characteristic - it stretches in just one direction.^[12] In some areas they are farmed, which has the effect of insuring that the wetland habitats are protected. Their survival is aided by their ability to breed rapidly.^[5]

Captivity

Capybaras can be found in many areas in zoos and parks, sometimes allowed to roam freely and may live for 12 years in captivity.^[10][5]

Where to find

• Three capybaras live at the Smithsonian Zoological Park's elephant house (as of 09/2006).^[6]
• At least three capybaras live at Wildlife Safari in Oregon (as of 2007).
• Two capybaras live at the Hattiesburg Zoo in Hattiesburg, Mississippi (as of 09/2007).^[7]
• Two capybaras live at the San Francisco Zoo in San Francisco, California (as of 10/2007).^[3]
• Two capybaras live at the San Diego Zoo (as of 10/2007).^[13]
• Two capybaras live at Hovatter's Zoo in Kingwood, West Virginia (as of 09/2007).
• Two capybaras live at the York's Wild Kingdom in York, Maine (as of 09/2007).
• Two capybaras live at Southwick's Zoo in Mendon, Massachusetts (as of 10/2007).
• Two capybaras live at the High Park Zoo in Toronto, Ontario (as of 09/2007).
• At least two capybaras live at the Denver Zoo in Denver, Colorado (as of 2007).
• At least two capybaras live at the Attica Zoological Park in Greece.
• At least one capybara lives at the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, Florida (as of 2007).^[9]
• At least one capybara lives at the Biodome du Montreal (Montreal Biodome), in Montreal, Quebec (as of 09/2007).
• At least one capybara lives at the Prague Zoological Garden (as of 09/2006).
• At least one capybara lives at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin (as of 09/2004).
• At least one capybara lives at the Burgers Zoo in the Netherlands (as of 05/2007).
• At least one capybara lives at the Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico (as of 05/2007).
• At least one capybara lives at the St. Louis Zoo in St. Louis, Missouri (as of 2007).^[14]
• At least one capybara lives at the Bristol Zoo in Bristol, England (as of 12/2005).
• At least five capybaras lives at the Zoo Schönbrunn in Vienna (as of 2005).
• At least one capybara lives at the Kolmården Zoo in Sweden (as of 2005).
• At least one capybara lives at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.

Human interactions

Capybaras are gentle animals and will usually allow humans to pet and hand-feed them. Capybara skin is tough, and thus in some areas where capybaras are wild, they are hunted for meat and their skin, which is turned into a high-quality leather,^[5] while some ranchers hunt them for fear of the competition for grazing. The meat is said to both look and taste like pork.^[2] The Capybara meat is dried and salted, then shredded and seasoned.^[15] Considered a delicacy, it is often served with rice and plantains.^[16]

During the Catholic celebration of Lent, capybara meat is especially popular as the church classified the animal as a fish in the 16th century (and has never reversed this erroneous classification).^{[11][2][15][17][16]}

Gallery

Capybara at The National Zoo in Washington, D.C. (September 2006)	Capybara at the Prague Zoological Garden (September 2006)	Capybara at the Prague Zoological Garden (September 2006)	Capybara near Rurenabaque in Bolivia (August 2003)
Capybara near Rurenabaque in Bolivia (August 2003)	Capybara at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin (September 2004)	Capybara: Frontalansicht eines Wasserschweins (February 2004)	Swimming capybara at Iberá Marshes in Corrientes, Argentina (August 2002)
Capybara at Burgers Zoo, The Netherlands (May 2007)	Capybara from the Rio Grande Zoo in AlbuquerqueNew Mexico (May 2007)	Capybara at the Bristol Zoo in Bristol, England (December 2005)	Soaking-wet capybara in Brazil (September 2006)
Capybara at Kolmården Zoo in Sweden (2005)	Capybara with young at the Zoo Schönbrunn in Vienna (2005)	Young Capybaras at the Zoo Schönbrunn in Vienna (2005)	Capybara resting (March 2005)

See also

• German Language Wikipedia article on Capybara, mechanically translated into English by Google
• Neochoerus pinckneyi, an extinct relative of Capybara.

External links

• Capybara images at Google Images
• Capybara quiz at ExpertRating

References

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