What is the largest rodent in Africa?

Answer 1

South African Porcupines

Answer 2

Porcupine
The porcupine, the largest rodent in Africa, is nocturnal and therefore rarely seen. However, its discarded long white and black quills are often seen on the mountain. Porcupines tend to live in caves and crevices, but if these are not available they will settle for a hole in the ground or a burrow abandoned by another animal.

The body length of this porcupine, including head, is approximately 40". This skin has been professionally skinned by a taxidermist and it would make a very unusual mount for a display room or trophy room. This porcupine is directly from Africa, captured on a hunting safari roughly 20 years ago. The porcupine is in pristine condition and is museum quality-.

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Answer 3

Largest rodent in Africa: South African porcupine.

The capybara is from South America, and the largest rodent in the world.

Answer 4

The male porcupine is the largest rodent in Africa and can grow up to 25 pounds.

Answer 5

the largest rodent in Africa is the Capybara

Answer 6

South African Porcupines are the largest rodent in Africa..... if it is strictly RODENTS

Answer 7

Well,,,, depends on what one thinks of Africa. There are both 4 legged and 2 legged.

Answer 8

The "Capybara" It weighs about 100 lbs and is about 2 feet tall.

Answer 9

Welcome
to the Capybara Page
Home of the World's Largest Rodent

NEW: A story of capybara devotion from Rio.

Capybara videos!

Buy a capybara tshirt!

Click here for a picture of a capybara seen in the wild in Shreveport, LA, sent in by a reader.



Old New Things:

Capybaras invade Washington, DC! Click here for the inside scoop.

Capybara news from Ohio - be on the lookout!

: Click here for a page of capybara facts (and it's about time.)

Buy capybara earrings here

Don't miss the perpetual capybara machine.

The capybara, Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris, is a semi-aquatic rodent of South America. It weighs about a hundred pounds, and is about 2 feet tall at the shoulder. To help you imagine the size of a capybara, click on the image to the right to see a picture including a human being (5 ft. tall) for scale. The two capybaras on the right are adults, the rest are juveniles.



These pictures, including capybaras eating popcorn, were taken at Southwicks Wild Animal Farm in Mendon, Mass. (south of Worcester) which we recommend highly to the capybara-minded.



The next pictures show capybaras engaging in typical behaviors like nursing, swimming, and having their exhibit cleaned at the Montreal Biodome. Also included is an excellent top view of the juveniles. By the way, "capybara" is stressed on the third syllable.



This picture of a handsome male clearly shows the scent gland on his snout which he probably uses to mark his territory.





These pictures were taken at our recent trip to the Philadelphia Zoo.



Click on this picture for more photographs of capybaras living the good life in California...









Capyboppy, a book written and illustrated by Bill Peet, published by Houghton Mifflin Company, is the true story of a capybara who actually lived with the Peet family. We highly recommend this book to any capybara fan. It is required reading for anyone who is considering trying out a capybara at home.



Click here for capybara correspondence and more great capybara literature

We have read that capybaras may be eaten by Catholics during Lent in parts of South America, because they are aquatic. Fortunately, we have no pictures of this activity.

According to Emilio Herrera, a biologist and capybara expert at Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas Venezuela:
"It is true that capybaras are eaten during Lent, but only in Venezuela, and even there not everywhere. However, its dried and salted meat is highly appreciated and is a traditional lenten dish. The annual capybara harvest is legal and regulated by government. The well-designed management plan (based on a study by Juhani Ojasti published in 1973) has been in operation for many years and is very successful, contributing income to ranchers, meat for people, and not damaging their populations."

More on capybara meat (and other products ) here.

Quoted from The Mammals, A Guide to the Living Species by Desmond Morris, Harper & Row, New York, 1965:

Looking rather like a cross between a Guinea-pig and a Hippopotamus, the Capybara is the largest of all the I,729 species of living rodents. Extinct forms of this animal were even bigger, but the pig-sized, surviving specimens can reach an adult weight of more than IOO lb., an overall length of 4 feet and a shoulder height of 21 inches.

It lives in large groups along the river banks, where it grazes peacefully on the lush grasses and the aquatic vegetation. It comes out on to dry land to rest and bask in the sun but at the first hint of danger the whole troop dashes into the water. Its worst enemies are the Puma and the Jaguar.

Capybaras inhabiting the colder regions of South America have a long shaggy coat, but the typical form has the short, pale and rather coarse hair that can be seen in the above photograph. The face is very deep, the ears and tail are small and the feet are slightly webbed. There is a large bump in the middle of the top of the nose, which appears to be a scent gland of some kind.

Capybaras adapt easily to life in captivity and become remarkably friendly. They are rather vocal for rodents, often giving vent to a series of strange clicks, squeaks and grunts. It is important that they should be provided with a pool, as they appear to have a strong resistance to defecating or mating on dry land. The gestation period is approximately 4 months and maximum longevity about 1O years.

P.S.: Dr. Morris informs us that the capybara is his favorite rodent.

Below is a list of zoos where we think you can see capybaras, as reported by our faithful readers, and which we've seen on our own visits. Of course we can't be sure this list is up to date, so always phone ahead before visiting any zoo to avoid committing yourself to a wild rodent chase...

A probably more up to date resource , the WorldZoo ISIS Abstracts is an index of many species and the zoos which have them. Click on "Species holdings" to search for capybaras by common or Latin name.

Please note that most of these zoos probably do have web pages but I can't keep up with chasing down all the URLs, which keep changing.

If you have additional sightings or corrections, send them to and we'll add them to the list.

North America: East

* Franklin Park Zoo, Boston ,Massacusetts
* Southwick's, Mendon, Massachusetts
* Forest Park Zoo, Springfield, Massachusetts
* Salisbury City Zoo, Maryland
* Toronto Zoo, Ontario
* Granby Zoo, Quebec
* Philadelphia Zoo, Pennsylvania
* Brandywine Zoo, Wilmington, Delaware
* Lester Raines Farm, Cross Lanes, West Virginia
* Bowmanville Zoo, Ontario
* Montreal Biodome
* Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo, New York
* Cape May County Zoo, Cape May, New Jersey
* Beardsley Zoo, Bridgeport, Connecticut
* York Wildlife Park, Maine
* Reston Zoo, Virginia - click here for pictures
* Bervie Zoological Park, Kincardine, Ontario
* Elmwood Park Zoo, Norristown PA

North America: West

* Santa Barbara, California - click here
* Rio Grande Zoo, Albuquerque
* Alameda Park Zoo, Alamogordo, New Mexico
* Phoenix Zoo, Arizona
* Santa Ana Zoo, California - click here
* Chaffee Zoological Gardens, Fresno, California
* Denver, Colorado
* Reid Park Zoo, Tucson, Arizona
* Greater Vancouver Zoological Centre
* San Francisco Zoo Click here for correspondence from a SF zoo person..
* West Coast Game Park, Oregon
* San Diego Zoo
* Happy Hollow Park, San Jose Don't miss their pictures of the capybaras arriving here
* The Valley Zoo, Edmonton, Alberta
* Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero, CA

North America: South

* Memphis, Tennesee
* Jacksonville zoo - click here to read a story about their baby capys
* Audubon Park Zoo, New Orleans, Lousiana
* Little Rock Zoo, Arkansas
* Birmingham, Alabama
* The Zoo, Gulf Breeze, Florida
* Disney's Animal Kingdom - click here for pictures
* Audubon Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana
* Florida Cypress Gardens, Winter Haven, Florida
* Zoo of Acadiana, Broussard, Louisiana
* Sunken Gardens, St Petersburg, Florida
* Riverbanks Zoo, Columbia, South Carolina.
* Zooworld, Panama City Beach, Florida
* Brevard Zoo, Melbourne, Florida - Here's a picture
* Deer Acres Zoo, Hackett, Arkansas
* Dreher Park Zoo, West Palm Beach, Florida
* Click here for info on wild capybaras in Florida!
* Silver Springs, Ocala, Florida
* Waccatee Zoological Farm in Myrtle Beach, SC

North America: Central

* Cleveland, Ohio - pictures here
* St. Louis Zoo
* Scoville Children's Zoo, Decatur, Illinois
* John Ball Zoo, Grand Rapids, Michigan
* Henry Vilas Zoo, Madison, Wisconsin
* Irvine Park, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
* Racine Zoo, Racine, Wisconsin
* San Antonio Zoological Society
* Glen Oak Zoo, Peoria, Illinois
* Caldwell Zoo, Tyler, Texas
* Houston Zoo
* Detroit, Michigan
* Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois
* Milwaukee County Zoo - click here for picture
* Grant's Farm, St. Louis
* Wilderness Park, Birch Run, Michigan
* Dallas Zoo
* Austin Zoo
* Cameron Park Zoo, Waco, Texas
* El Paso Zoo
* The Texas Zoo, Victoria TX
* Edmonton Valley Zoo
* Zoologico de Chapultepec, Mexico City

Europe

* Tierpark Zoo, Berne, Switzerland
* Newquay Zoo, Cornwall, England
* Cotswold Wildlife Park, Burford, Oxfordshire, England
* Ljubljana, Slovenia
* Curraghs Wildlife Park, Isle of Man (click here for more details)
* Dierenpark Planckendael, Belgium
* Sint-Anna Ranch, Keelstraat 1800 Vilvoorde, Belgium
* Kalmarden Animal Park, Norrkoping, Sweden
* Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden, Hungary
* Burgers Zoo Arnhem , The Netherlands
* Augsburg Zoo , Germany
* Hannover Zoo , Germany
* Vienna Zoo
* Zurich Zoo , Switzerland
* Zoo Bratislava
* Fota Island Wildlife Park, Ireland
* Southport Zoo, England
* Chester Zoo, England
* Twycross Zoo, England - click here for their site and here for a picture
* Apenheul park, Apeldoorn, Netherlands
* Wroclaw Zoo, Poland
* Barcelona zoo, Spain
* Jardin des Plants, Paris
* Copenhagen, Denmark
* Tierpark Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
* Drusilla's Park, England - click here for picture sent by a reader
* Zoological Garden in Jihlava/Czechia
* Prague Zoo

South America

* Ecozoologico San Martin, Banos, Ecuador
* Eco-Zoologico Reserve, Uruguay
* Zoologico de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia - click here for picture
* And many zoos in Brazil including (hope I got this right):
Jardim Zoologico de Sao Paulo
Bosque dos Jequitibas - Campinas

Africa

* Cango Wildlife Ranch, Oudtshoorn, South Africa
* Johannesburg Zoo, South Africa
* Pretoria Zoo, South Africa

Asia

* Night Safari of Singapore
* Tokyo Zoo
* Kobe Zoo, Kobe, Japan, pictures and other Japanse links here

Other

* St. Maarten Zoo, Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
* Emperor Valley Zoo, Trinidad



Submitted by other loyal capybara fans:

New: letter and pictures from Sao Paolo, Brazil

* No longer the only capybara in Washington, DC! It's still in the renovated Hall of Mammals, looking like it's barely been dusted off in all that shiny new company.
* The Call of the Capy A sound clip sent by BSweet who also has video footage of the capys in Springfield. If you are interested, you can drop him a line.
* A capybara in South Africa - where you can go in and pet the animal. More here.
* A capybara in a canoe.

Other Capybara links:

* Japanese capybara pages here
* Capybara Music: The Cappy Barra Boys ! and "El Carpincho" capybara jazz; a Japanese singer with a song called Capybara (search for it here)
* Pictures, including a capybara
* Professor Capybara
* Russian capys
* Tapir Gallery Capybara Page
* Capybaras (Chiwiri)
* A Capy vacation
* Click here for some remarkable capybara pictures, but only if you think you can resist the temptation to buy a pet capybara even after seeing a picture of a baby capy wearing a bib. We really don't want to be encouraging people to think capybaras make good pets.
* Click here for another site that sells capybaras. We include this information because we do get asked... but please be responsible in all your animal purchases, OK?
* A nightmare a capybara might have
* Buy capy and other films here