Capybaras, the world’s largest rodents, are semi-aquatic mammals native to South America. These sizable creatures inhabit wetlands, grasslands, and dense forests near water bodies across the continent. Capybaras are herbivores, meaning their diet consists entirely of plant matter. Their lifestyle revolves around their close proximity to water, which influences both their foraging behavior and the types of vegetation they consume. Understanding their specialized diet and unique digestive adaptations provides insight into how these large rodents thrive in their natural environments.
Their Main Food Sources
Capybaras primarily graze on a variety of grasses and aquatic plants. They are often seen consuming specific types of grasses such as Bermuda grass, Panic grass, sedges, switchgrass, and crowngrass. These plants are readily available in their wetland habitats, making them a consistent and accessible food source throughout much of the year. An adult capybara can consume a significant amount of vegetation daily, sometimes around 6 to 8 pounds of grass.
Capybaras also frequently eat aquatic vegetation like water hyacinths and water lettuce, which provide not only sustenance but also essential hydration. Their strong, continuously growing incisors are well-suited for nibbling on these tough plant materials. During dry seasons, when preferred grasses and aquatic plants become scarce, their diet can shift opportunistically. They may resort to eating less palatable options such as reeds, certain fruits, tree bark, or plant roots to sustain themselves.
A Unique Digestive Strategy
Capybaras possess a specialized digestive system for their high-fiber, plant-based diet. They are hindgut fermenters, meaning the majority of their digestive fermentation occurs in their large intestine, particularly in a highly developed cecum. This large cecum, which can comprise a significant portion of their digestive tract volume, houses a population of bacteria. These microbes are essential for breaking down cellulose, a complex carbohydrate found in plant cell walls, into forms the capybara can absorb.
To further enhance nutrient absorption from their fibrous diet, capybaras engage in a behavior called coprophagy, or cecotrophy. This involves re-ingesting their own feces, specifically a type of soft, nutrient-rich pellet produced in the morning. These special pellets, distinct from their harder waste droppings, contain undigested food particles, beneficial microbes, and microbial proteins synthesized during the initial passage through the hindgut. By consuming these soft feces, capybaras effectively give their food a second pass through their digestive system, allowing them to re-absorb vitamins, amino acids, and fatty acids that were not fully utilized the first time. This ensures they maximize their intake of essential nutrients from their diet and is particularly important for obtaining sufficient protein and energy from a diet primarily composed of low-nutrient forage.