Capybara

The world's biggest and calmest rodent

The capybara is a giant guinea pig weighing 60 kg! It's a rodent — a relative of mice and squirrels — but bigger than a dog. Capybaras are super friendly: birds, monkeys and even turtles sit on them. They love water and can stay underwater for 5 minutes. A capybara's teeth grow its whole life.

The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the world's largest rodent (1.3 m, 65 kg), living in the riverside savannas of South America (Pantanal, Llanos). Semi-aquatic: eyes, ears and nostrils on top of its head (like a hippo), partly webbed feet, dives for 5 minutes. It lives in groups of 10–30, and females nurse each other's young. To digest grass it re-eats its own droppings (cecotrophy). Jaguars, anacondas and caimans hunt it. Its calm nature earned it the title 'friend of all animals' — capybaras bathing in hot springs at Japanese zoos became famous. In some places it is farmed for meat.

Fun facts

• The capybara is a rodent — a mouse's 'giant cousin'.
• Birds, monkeys and turtles sit on capybaras — they never chase anyone away.
• A capybara's eyes and nose are on top of its head — like a crocodile, it swims with only those showing.