Capybaras: Nature's Social Butterflies? Even Crocodiles Refrain from Hunting Them – There's a Secret Weapon

When it comes to the largest rodents, do you know which one it is? The answer is the capybara. Although its name is similar to that of dolphins, its appearance is quite different. The capybara is a semi-aquatic herbivore with coarse and sparse fur, its back is of various colors such as yellow-brown, and its belly is yellowish-brown. It has a large neck and short ears, and overall it looks a bit like a giant guinea pig. It usually feeds on plants and has a docile personality and slow movements. However, when encountering danger, it can quickly enter the water. Its predators include jaguars and crocodiles.

Originally distributed in South America, it was later introduced to Florida, USA, and other tropical regions. The capybara is an animal with social behavior, living in family groups of about 10-30 individuals, living near the water, and does not like to dig burrows. Originally it was diurnal for foraging, but later due to hunting by humans, it changed to nocturnal foraging. Capybara fur and meat are very popular in Venezuela. As early as the 18th century, humans began to hunt capybaras. However, in the mid-20th century, this behavior almost caused the wild capybaras to become extinct. Fortunately, later, through artificial breeding and restrictions on hunting, the number of capybaras gradually increased. Currently, the capybara population is relatively stable, so there is no immediate survival crisis, but it is still listed as a low-risk level in the 'World Wildlife Conservation Union'.

From the above information, it can be seen that the capybara is different from other rodents. This animal is relatively docile, rarely fights with its own kind, and rarely fights with other animals. Instead, it should be quite miserable living in the wild, but in fact, the capybara gets along well with other animals. Apart from the fact that humans used to hunt them, other animals rarely hunt them, and the reason why it is so easy to be endangered is also because the capybara is difficult to sustain itself.

So what is the reason that makes the capybara the favorite of other animals?

In the area where the capybaras live, there are crocodiles and jaguars. These animals would not spare other herbivorous animals when hunting, but biologists have discovered that even crocodiles did not kill capybaras when they faced capybaras. At first, biologists thought it was because capybaras reacted quickly, so jaguars could not succeed. However, capybaras were also safe in areas where crocodiles gathered. This situation made biologists puzzled.

After relevant research, biologists proposed a hypothesis, perhaps because the capybara has 'something' that is beneficial to crocodiles, so the crocodiles did not hunt capybaras. So what is this 'something'? According to the explanation of biologists, this thing is capybara feces, in their research, capybara feces has a high protein content, which is a nutritious food for other animals. Therefore, some crocodiles who knew the situation might give up hunting capybaras in order to eat capybara feces. In addition to crocodiles, other animals may also know this benefit, so they often stay by the capybaras to wait for 'food' to fall.

In fact, animals are not as silly as we imagine. In their cognition, whatever thing is nutritious and valuable to them, animals may be very clear. Take crocodiles and quillbirds as an example, it is a mutually beneficial relationship. The reason why crocodiles did not hunt capybaras in sight may be this psychology, after all, if they all hunt capybaras, they may not be able to enjoy nutritious capybara feces, which is a great loss.

Of course, this situation is not very common. After all, when crocodiles and carnivorous animals such as jaguars are in a state of hunger, they will not miss the capybara, which is the nature of animals.

Written by/Liesheng, Illustrations from the Internet, Copyright removed