Capybara babies

Last Friday we doubled the amount of capybara we have at the zoo over night as our female gave birth to two healthy youngsters!!

Last year we sourced a female capybara from Paignton zoo which we paired up with a young male we got from Reaseheath college near Chester. The male was called Taco, as capybara are from South America we thought we would continue naming all our capys after South American food. We called the female Fajita, and we're calling the two youngsters Burrito and Chimicanga. We are still unsure of the sexes of these two new arrivals as capybara cannot be easily sexed visually. We will wait until they are a bit older before we catch them up to find this out. Now they are a week old they are eating grass and splashing around in the large pond with mom and dad.

Capybara are the world's largest rodent, their name originates from the Guarani word Kapiyva, which means 'master of the grasses.' They are usually found in large groups of between 10 and 20 individuals controlled by a dominant male. They are a semi aquatic animal living along rivers, estuaries and marsh areas. Although they are not an endangered species, we are very happy to keep them at the zoo and are pleased they have bred successfully.