The Life of Animals | Capybara | Capybaras have heavy, barrel-shaped bodies and short heads with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of Their body That turns Yellowish-brown underneath. The top recorded weight are 91 kg (200 lb) for a wild female from Brazil and 73.5 kg (162 lb) for a wild male from Uruguay. Capybaras have slightly webbed feet and a vestigial tail. Females are slightly heavier than males. Capybaras are herbivores, grazing on grasses and aquatic Mainly plants, as well as fruit and tree bark. Capybara are very selective feeders with four to six plant species making 75% of its diet. They Will select the leaves of one species and other species Surrounding disregard it. Capybaras Greater eat a variety of plants During the dry season as there are Fewer plants available.
That capybaras eat Plants During the summer lose Their nutritional value in the winter and are thus not consumed at That time The capybara's jaw hinge is non-perpendicular and They thus chew food by grinding back and forth rather than side-to-side. Capybaras are coprophagous, meaning They eat Their own feces as a source of bacterial gut flora and to help digest the cellulose in the grass That Their forms a normal diet and extract the maximum from Their food proteins. When in estrus, the female's scent changes subtly and nearby males begin pursuit. Capybaras mate only in the water and if a female does not want to mate with a male Certain She Will either submerge or leave the water.
The larger the group, the harder it is for the male to watch all the females. Dominant males secure significantly more matings than each subordinate, but subordinate males, as a class, are Responsible for more than each dominant male matings. The lifespan of the capybara's sperm is longer than That of other rodents. Capybara gestation is 130-150 days and usually produces a litter of four capybara babies, but may Produce the between one and eight in a single litter Birth is on land and the female Will rejoin the group within a Few hours delivering aspects of the newborn capybaras, WHO Will join the group as soon as They are mobile. Like other rodents, the front teeth of capybaras grow continually to compensate for the constant wearing-down from eating grasses Their cheek teeth also grow continuously.
Capybaras can be found in many areas in zoos and parks and may live for 12 years in captivity Capybaras are gentle and Will usually allow Humans to pet and hand-feed Them. Capybara are farmed for meat and skins in South America. During Lent, capybara meat is ESPECIALLY popular in parts of South America, ESPECIALLY in Venezuela, as it is claimed That the Catholic Church, in a special dispensation, allowed meat eating capybara meat consumptionOtherwise was not allowed.