What is the conservation status of the Capybara?

The Capybara is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant. Not currently at risk of extinction in the wild.

Where is the Capybara found?

The Capybara is found in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Panama.

Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) — Conservation Status & How to Help

About the Capybara

The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the world's largest living rodent, a semi-aquatic mammal closely related to guinea pigs and rock cavies. Adults typically weigh between 35 and 66 kilograms, with females generally larger than males. They are highly social animals, living in groups that typically range from 10 to 20 individuals, though dry-season aggregations around shrinking water sources can swell to well over 100. Their range spans the tropical and subtropical lowlands of South America, from the Llanos of Venezuela and Colombia through the Amazon Basin, the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil and Bolivia, and south into the grasslands of Argentina and Uruguay.

Capybaras are keystone herbivores in their habitats, grazing on grasses, aquatic plants, and bark, and their feeding patterns help maintain the structure of riverbank and floodplain vegetation. They are also a critical food source for a wide range of predators, including the jaguar (Panthera onca), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), anaconda (Eunectes murinus), and caiman. The IUCN Red List currently lists the species as Least Concern, reflecting its broad range and adaptable nature, but localized hunting for meat and hide, habitat loss from agricultural expansion, and persecution by ranchers who view them as livestock competitors represent real and ongoing pressures in parts of their range.

Things worth knowing

Capybaras are highly adapted to aquatic life, with webbed feet, eyes and nostrils positioned high on the skull, and the ability to remain submerged for up to five minutes to evade predators.
Their teeth grow continuously throughout their lives, and their complex, high-crowned molars are well-suited to grinding the tough grasses and aquatic vegetation that make up the bulk of their diet.
Capybaras practice coprophagy, consuming their own feces in the morning to extract additional nutrients from bacterial fermentation products, a behavior shared with other caviomorph rodents.
A dominant male leads most capybara social groups and marks territory using a specialized scent gland called the morillo, a hairless lump on the snout that is more pronounced in males.
Young capybaras, called pups, can walk within hours of birth and are nursed communally by all lactating females in the group, not solely by their own mother.
In the Venezuelan and Colombian Llanos, capybara ranching has been practiced since the 1980s as a regulated, sustainable alternative to uncontrolled hunting, producing meat that is traditionally consumed during Lent.

Capybara

Things worth knowing

0 organizations protect the Capybara