Size: Length; 106-134 cm, Height; 50-62cm, Weight; 35-66kg

Age: 5-10 years

Groups and Breeding: The capybara lives in either small family groups (male/female pairs and their offspring) or large groups of 10- 40 individuals (made up of lots of smaller family groups) and up to 100 individuals in the dry season. In each group there will be a dominant male who will chase the sub-dominant and juvenile males out to the outskirts of the group. Fights are rarely seen.

Females breed at around 18months. They mate in the water and after a gestation of 150 days give birth to 4-7 young.

Diet: They have huge front incisors like a rabbits to allow them to eat short grasses which they then grind up using their molars.

• The capybara is related to the guinea pig and is actually the largest living rodent. Fossil records show a primitive capybara which was twice as long and 8 times as heavy (it would have been heavier than a grizzly bear!)
• The word capybara comes from the Guara word meaning ‘master of the grasses’. The first European naturalists to describe this species called them ‘water pigs’.
• They are great swimmers and are highly adapted to spending long amounts of time in the water, they have partially webbed feet, their nose, ears and eyes are all situated towards the top of their head and they can stay underwater for up to 5 minutes.
• The males have large scent glands on the top of their noses called a morrillo. These secrete a scent which is as individual to each male as a fingertip is to humans. This scent is used to recognise each other.
• Young are left alone with hours of being born so that the mother’s can go and feed. She will return to them only to feed them. After a period of 3-4 days the young will join the others in the group but will feed from any lactating female. To keep in touch with their mother’s, the young will purr constantly.
• In Venezuela, locals eat capybara; apparently it is delicious and also produces very good leather!