{"id":805,"date":"2026-04-28T04:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T03:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/why-capybaras-arent-eaten-by-caimans\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T04:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T03:29:28","slug":"why-capybaras-arent-eaten-by-caimans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/why-capybaras-arent-eaten-by-caimans\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Capybaras Aren&#8217;t Eaten by Caimans"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Today the largest rodent alive, the capybara is regularly seen lounging near caimans. While attacks targeting adults remain infrequent, that does not mean they face no risk.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Often Peaceful Coexistence<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Measuring up to about 1.3 meters long and weighing over 70 kilograms, <em>Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris<\/em> lives in the wetlands and marshy regions of a large part of South America, where it inevitably comes into contact with <strong>caimans<\/strong>, close cousins of crocodiles.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Lire aussi<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">This discovery about giant Cretaceous octopuses radically changes our understanding of marine evolution<\/span><\/section>\n<p>While many photographs suggest that the giant <strong>rodent<\/strong> coexists peacefully with these alligatorids, the reality is noticeably more nuanced. As Elizabeth Congdon, of Bethune-Cookman University, notes, the young <strong>capybara<\/strong>s are regularly targeted by reptiles, and adults can also appear on the menu when easy prey, such as fish, are scarce.<\/p>\n<p><em>H. hydrochaeris<\/em> can, however, defend itself with its oversized, sharp incisors. \u201c<em>Compte tenu de leur taille, les crocodiliens pr\u00e9f\u00e8rent probablement \u00e9viter de s\u2019en prendre \u00e0 lui, et risquer de graves blessures<\/em>,\u201d says Congdon.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777346966_777_Why-Capybaras-Arent-Eaten-by-Caimans.jpg\" alt=\"Capybara\" class=\"wp-image-943560\"  ><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Well-Known Predator<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In certain circumstances, jaguars, anacondas, ocelots and harpy eagles (great raptors that mainly target juveniles) can also prey on capybaras, but the main threat hanging over them remains humans.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Lire aussi<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">Why do deer lose their antlers?<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Although wild populations are protected in several countries, many South American communities continue to hunt it. To reduce these pressures, in recent years, farming of this giant rodent has been expanding.<\/p>\n<p>Often portrayed as a sociable and easygoing creature, tolerating, among other things, turtles and birds that perch on its back, <em>H. hydrochaeris<\/em> is far from as docile as some viral videos suggest. When threatened, it does not hesitate to defend itself, and it seems that humans and domestic animals are often the targets of its anger.<\/p>\n<p>As a curious fact, in some historical contexts in South America, it was likened to a \u201cfish\u201d by the Church in order to permit its consumption during Lent.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Lire aussi<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">A surprising discovery about crocodiles: their scale patterns are shaped by physics, not by genes<\/span><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1102,1104,1101,1103],"class_list":["post-805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-arent","tag-caimans","tag-capybaras","tag-eaten","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":807,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions\/807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}