Venezuela: Los Llanos – Capybaras

Los Llanos is home to thousands of capybaras, that gather along the water channels and mudflats in enormous family groups. The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is known locally in Venezuela as the chigüire.It is the the world’s largest living rodent and an evolutionary marvel designed for life along flooded riverbanks and marshes:. They possess partially webbed feet that make them efficient swimmers, their eyes, ears, and nostrils are located on the top of their heads (much like a hippo), allowing them to submerge nearly their entire body while keeping their senses active above water. Capybaras feed exclusively in grass and grass being low on nutrients and hard to digests, they have a couple evolutionary tricks – one is constantly growing teeth and another is double digestion; they digest the grass once producing pellets that are full of nutrients and vitamins concentrated in them and then they eat them in the morning! Capybaras live in groups of 10-40, sometimes hundreds. Capybaras in Llanos give birth every six months and produce 3-8 little capybaras each time.