The Cute Capybaras At Our Zoo Are Growing Up Fast!
Kiwi, Enzo, & Katy are the cute capybaras who inhabit Animal World and Snake Farm Zoo off of I-35 South in New Braunfels. These cheeky guys have done lots of growing since we welcomed them to our zoo family back in March of 2023. Since then, they have been the stars of our exciting capybara animal encounters. During our encounters with the capybaras, you’ll get the chance to feed Kiwi and Enzo who are the most friendly with humans. Want to pet a capybara?
If you are interested in meeting a capybara or want to pet a capybara during an animal encounter at Animal World and Snake Farm Zoo, then click the link below to book your experience!
Click here to book your private animal encounter!
Take On A Unique Capybara Petting Adventure!
The capybara is a very unique creature because of how amicable it is towards humans. They are known to create symbiotic relationships with birds and other pest-eaters in the wild. When this occurs the capybaras will allow birds near enough to eat and peck at the flies and other nearby pests. In some cases, the capybaras are even comfortable with birds standing on their backs and picking through their furs. This friendly nature is part of how we can offer the capybara petting and feeding experience during our animal encounters.
Although they are friendly towards humans, capybaras have social requirements that humans are not able to meet on their own. Capybaras are social creatures who are used to living with other capybaras. They operate as a family unit.
The stimulation that capybaras receive during the animal encounters is also a key to their care needs. Capybaras need constant mental and physical stimulation to remain healthy. Like other herd animals, they operate best in large groups of animals which forms their social structure. They are not like dogs or cats who can create social structures that include humans.
Check Out These Interesting Capybara Facts!
There are lots of mind-blowing capybara facts for the knowledge-seeking zoologist or animal enthusiasts. Here are a few:
- The capybara’s English name is derived from the Guarani word Kapiÿva, meaning “lord of the grass”.
- Capybaras are trainable, but not in the same way as dogs or cats.
- They are known to eat their feces as a digestive enzyme, this phenomenon is scientifically known as autologous coprophagy.
- When threatened, capybaras will hide in bodies of water, holding their breath for up to five minutes.
- Their natural predators include anacondas, jaguars, and caimans. However, their most lethal predators are humans, who hunt them for meat and make their hides into leather.
- They are closely related to guinea pigs and belong to the cavy family.
- They are vocally distinct and make an array of sounds that include purring, barking, cackling, whistling, squealing, whining, grunting and even teeth-chattering.
- They vocalize harmonic differences between groups, making each capybara family vocally unique.
Stay tuned for more adult capybara facts and baby capybara facts!
Take A Cute Capybara Picture With Kiwi & Enzo!
Our capybaras have been making waves on social media. Everyone wants the chance to snap a cute capybara picture or video. Take a look at some of our favorite capybara moments from our guests and zoo keepers!
Do you have any photos of your capybara experience at Animal World and Snake Farm Zoo? Share them and tag us to be featured in our social media or blogs!
Is Petting A Capybara safe?
During animal encounters at Animal World and Snake Farm Zoo, we create a safe environment for you to hang out with, and pet animals like capybaras. To pet a capybara isn’t like petting a dog or cat. Capybaras are considered wild animals and have not formed the same domesticated bonds with humans that dogs and cats have developed over thousands of years of evolution. For these reasons, we include a feeding experience with our capybaras.
So are capybaras friendly? The feeding experience we include with encounters allows our capybaras to be distracted while guests like you freely pet them. Although they are friendly to humans, capybaras could still get overstimulated and frightened if food isn’t present when meeting new people. Keep in mind that humans are the main predator of wild capybaras. The fact that our capybaras are so open to human interaction is an amazing feat, made possible in part by guests like you who participate in our animal encounters.