Do Capybaras Throw Their Babies?
If you have ever watched a capybara mother with her offspring and seen her lift one of her babies up in her mouth, gently biting down on its scruff, then you may have wondered if she was thinking of throwing it. The answer is yes.
A mother capybara will pick up its baby with its mouth and “throw” it into the water if it senses danger while they’re on land. The mother will then dive into the water and swim away with her babies clinging safely to her back.
Capybaras also use this form of transportation to carry their babies around while they are busy doing other things such as grazing, wading, or walking around.
Capybaras are the world’s largest rodent species and they can weigh up to 140 pounds or 64 kilograms when fully grown. They live in groups of about 10-20 animals and these groups are led by a dominant male which will mate with all the females in the group during the breeding season.
The females give birth to their young after a gestation period of five months and each litter can contain anywhere from two to eight pups at a time. The pups are born precocial, meaning that they are born with fur and their eyes open; so they can walk around almost immediately after birth and start feeding on solid food within about three days of being born.
Even though the pups are mobile from birth, their mothers still need to be able to carry them around until they are strong enough to take care of themselves.
How Do Capybaras Treat Their Babies
Capybaras have several predators and it is important that they keep their young safe. They are only vulnerable for a short period of time (a few months). Capybaras are not born with thick fur, so they are helpless against the cold and other dangers.
If they stayed in the water all the time, they would be at risk from caimans and anacondas. The babies can not swim very well at birth so the mother keeps them out of the water until about two weeks. They are weaned at about four months.
The capybara mother will put her baby on her back when she goes into deeper water or when she is looking for food and needs to move around. She does this to keep it safe from predators and also protect it from the sun since it does not yet have thick fur. When she is in danger, she will move her baby off her back or underwater so it won’t be seen.
There is a hierarchy within family groups of capybaras. Baby capybara will stay close to their mothers, but they do sometimes go off and play with other babies in the group.
Another fascinating thing about capybaras is how they sleep. They sleep together as a group for safety and warmth, but there is always at least one adult standing guard on the watch for danger. The adults take turns standing guard so that everyone gets enough rest.
When it comes to their babies, capybaras are pretty protective. If the mother senses danger, she will take her baby and hide it underwater as mentioned above until the danger has passed. She can remain underwater for five minutes at a time before coming up for air using her nose as a snorkel!
Can Capybaras Suffocate Their Babies?
A reader and supporter of my blog sent me this question recently:
“I was watching a wildlife program and it said that capybaras have to take turns sitting with the babies, so they don’t suffocate them. This sounds like an urban legend to me. What do you think?”
I think it is an urban legend too! I have never heard of baby capybaras suffocating. I suppose if a mother fell asleep on her baby and did not wake up (for instance if she died in her sleep), but that could happen with any mammal, couldn’t it? It doesn’t usually happen.
In the wild, capybara mothers are very alert and attentive to their babies, always watching out for predators. They would not be likely to fall asleep on top of them. In captivity, they don’t have predators, so they are even less likely to fall asleep on top of their babies. If a mother did fall asleep on her baby, Capybara Guardian or another adult would gently push her off.
Well, there are a lot of things that can lead to a baby animal dying. But in the case of capybaras, suffocation — from being trapped under their mother — is rare as they carry only one baby at a time. “Capybaras are not like rabbits,” says Lisa Munniksma, an assistant professor of biology at Rollins College who has studied the animals in South America.
Munniksma has been studying capybaras since 2007 and she’s seen plenty of litters of capybara babies. The biggest problem with capybara mothers is that they are nervous and often run away when scientists try to observe them. “We spend a lot of time trying to get them used to us,” she says, which means the researchers can’t be around until the capybaras have given birth and the babies are about a week old.
“One of the most amazing things about these animals is that when they give birth, they’re ready to go,” she says. “The baby is walking within an hour.” That’s convenient for the mother who doesn’t have time to wait around for her baby to catch up with her before predators start sniffing around.
Do Capybaras Forget Their Babies?
If you ever watched the kids’ movie Up, you know that dogs don’t forget the loved ones they leave behind when they go on an adventure. But what about non-canine animals? Can they form complex bonds like this?
A Russian study in 2013 showed that rats do indeed remember their old friends. When given a choice between a rat they had spent time with before and a stranger rat, the rats overwhelmingly chose their pals.
But capybaras aren’t rats. They’re the world’s largest rodents, but how do their brains compare to other animals? Do capybaras remember the babies they give birth to?
Lonely Capybara Babies
I was inspired to write this article by a video I stumbled upon of a capybara mother and her babies. I’ve always thought that capybaras were kind of cute but seeing them as babies utterly melted my heart.
When it comes to mammals, there are a lot of different strategies for raising babies. Some, like capybaras, give birth to one baby at a time and raise that baby until it’s fully grown. Others, like humans and rabbits, have litters of babies, but only take care of a few at a time.
The strategy is usually related to the number of teats on the mother. Capybaras only have two teats, so they can only nurse one baby at a time (and carry it around with them). Humans and rabbits have many more: Rabbits can nurse up to 12 babies at once — though normally they only have 2 or 3 litters of 4 or 5 babies each.
Since we humans are mammals too, we know what it means when a mother mammal leaves her baby behind: She doesn’t care about her baby anymore. And if she doesn’t care about her baby anymore, she won’t come back for it either.
So if you see an abandoned baby capybara in Brazil — well, it certainly looks like that capybara has been abandoned by its mother. But the truth is that this is just one of many capybara parenting strategies.
There have been documented instances of a capybara mother forgetting about her baby capybara and leaving it behind when her herd moves on to another body of water. When this happens, other female capybaras will look after the abandoned baby capybara until its mother comes back for it. In some cases, there is no reunion and the baby has to bond with one of the other females.
Do Capybaras Breastfeed Their Babies?
Sometimes you might wonder how capybaras breastfeed their babies. The answer is that they have to do it differently. Capybaras have four nipples, two on each side of their body. Their babies can easily latch onto two teats and get enough milk for them to grow and thrive.
A baby capybara has been seen with all four teats in its mouth at the same time, but this is not necessary for it to receive enough nutrition from its mother. Most likely the baby was just having fun and playing with its mother’s nipples!
Why does a capybara need four nipples?
When a female capybara gives birth, she will usually only produce milk from one side of her body at first. This means that if there are multiple babies in the litter (which happens often), they will all have to take turns suckling on one nipple while waiting until they get their turn on the other one.
The reason why capybaras have four nipples instead of two is that they don’t have any other way to feed their babies when they are born. If there were only two teats available then only half of the babies would survive because there wouldn’t be enough milk for everyone!
Conclusion
We love the image of a mother capybara lumbering into the water carrying her young, each clinging intently to her back for a ride. The capybaras must feel safe there because they often fall asleep in mid-ride, nestled against their mother’s furry body.
- Capybaras are incredible animals, and the relationship they have with their offspring is no exception. If you ever visit a zoo with capybara exhibits, be sure to watch the babies carefully. You might even get to witness the whole “throwing” action for yourself.
- Capybaras clearly display maternal protectiveness, and they’re not afraid to protect their young—even if that means “throwing” them away from danger. I’m sure the babies know how much they’re loved, even while they’re being hustled off.
- Capybaras are very social, and their strong social bonds help explain why they dive into the water to save their babies. These rodents are usually docile, but they have some surprisingly aggressive actions in their repertoire. All in all, they seem to be pretty well-suited to life in the water.
