Capybara: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the capybara lives – recorded in 8 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris
Group	Mice, rats & other rodents
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	8 countries
Continents	South America
Mass	1.5 kg (birth weight); 48.9 kg (adult weight)
Class	Mammal
Order	Rodentia
Family	Caviidae

Where does the capybara live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the capybara in 8 countries and territories across South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Manicoré, Venezuela, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Uruguay, Panama.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is a capybara?

Wikidata records the following for the capybara: mass 1.5 kg (birth weight); 48.9 kg (adult weight).

Is the capybara endangered?

The capybara’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the capybara?

The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is a mammal in the order Rodentia and the family Caviidae, genus Hydrochoerus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the capybara

The capybara ( kap-ih-BAR-uh) or greater capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest living rodent, native to all countries in South America except Chile. It is a semiaquatic herbivore that inhabits savannas and dense forests, living near and in bodies of freshwater and feeding mainly on grasses and aquatic plants.

Together with the lesser capybara, it constitutes the genus Hydrochoerus. Its other close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the nutria.

The capybara is a highly social species that usually lives in groups of 10–20 individuals, but can be found in groups as large as 100. It is hunted for its meat and hide and for grease from its thick fatty skin.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Capybara (revision 1381316101), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q131538 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).