Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)

About Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)

• Kingdom: Animals
• Phylum: Chordates
• Class: Mammals
• Order: Rodents
• Family: Cavies

The capybara is extensively hunted for its meat and hide, as well as for a grease from its thick, fatty skin, which is used in the pharmaceutical trade (4) (5) (9). The hide is used to make high-quality leather (5) (6), for which there is a large internal market within South America (1), and the fur may be used to make gloves (10). The capybara is also sometimes killed by farmers as a pest, either because it may attack cereal or fruit crops, or because it is mistakenly viewed as a competitor with domestic livestock (3) (4) (6) (9). Despite these threats, the species still has a wide distribution and large global population (1), and the increasing conversion of forest to grassland, together with management regimes employed on cattle ranches (such as predator control, provision of water, and burning), may even be helping to create more suitable capybara habitat (5) (9). However, some local capybara populations have decreased or even disappeared where hunting pressure is intense, such as near human settlement and along rivers, which are the main travel routes of hunters (1) (2) (10).
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