The World’s Largest Rodent

The largest rodents in the world have webbed feet and love the water. The capybara is related to the guinea pig, but you wouldn’t know it by its size. These big rodents grow to be four feet long and about two feet tall. They’ll weigh between 110 to 150 pounds full grown.

Deb Copeland is an animal keeper at the

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. She knows a lot about the capybaras that live there. Capybaras are herbivores, meaning they eat plants. Copeland cuts tall grasses for them to chew on. In the zoo, they eat tree leaves, corn, alfalfa, and herbivore food. It’s like guinea pig chow.

To keep their always-growing teeth short, rodents gnaw constantly. At the zoo, when the capybaras’ teeth get too long, the animals hook them on their cages and break their teeth shorter.

Capybaras live longer in zoos than they do in the wild. “Three or four years is a long life for a capybara in the wild,” Copeland says. Capybaras are from marshes and other wet areas in South

America. There, they run, jump, and dive in the water to avoid jaguars and people. Crocodiles lurk in the water. People eat capybara meat and make necklaces from their teeth.

by Kerrily Sapet

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In the zoo, capybaras seem friendly. Copeland makes scratching motions with her hands when she sees them. They walk over for a back scratch. “Capybaras are very social animals,” she says. In the wild, they live with their families in large herds. Sometimes, however, the capybaras want to be left alone. “You have to watch their body language. Gnashing their teeth is an aggressive sound.” Copeland is amazed by their noises. “They squeak and click.”

At one time, the Zoo had baby capybaras, but babies don’t live there now. In zoos and in the wild, mother capybaras call their babies with a series of clicks. They also share their babies. “They have babysitters,” Copeland says. “Daddies don’t help much raising the babies.” Instead, the males stand guard.

“They are so cute when they are little,” Copeland says. “People see them and want them as pets. They are wild animals,” she says. “I wouldn’t want one. It would spend its time in the bathtub!”

The best way to enjoy these “giant guinea pigs” is to visit them at your local zoo.

You can see the adult capybara’s webbed feet in this photo.

Do you want to know more about the world’s largest rodent? Check out these capybara facts:

There were prehistoric capybaras that weighed eight times as much as capybaras weigh now. These are now extinct.

Capybaras are active in the early mornings and at sunset. During the heat of the day, they spend their time resting.

Their eyes, ears, and noses are high up on their heads. This helps them to see and breathe while swimming. The scientific name for capybara means “water pig.” When they were first discovered, people didn’t know they were rodents.

When capybaras are fully grown, their hair does not cover all of their body. To avoid sunburn, they spend lots of time in the water or resting in shade. They even roll around in mud (like pigs) to keep cool!