Why do capybaras attract animals? A zoo keeper told me that capybaras not only eat their own droppings, but other animals also look after their droppings. What is the charm of its droppings?
Friends who often watch short videos believe that they are already very familiar with the image of Capybara (capybara), and its attitude of "continue to live if you don't die" instantly became popular and became the flaunt of countless people. Under people's initial understanding, it seems that the "popularity" of this animal is particularly good, as if any animal is willing to play with it, so what is the truth?
Capybara is a rodent, although it looks more similar to a mouse, but its size is very large, it can grow to more than one meter, and its weight is more than 120 pounds, and it is a "super big mouse"!
They have a gentle temperament and rarely come into conflict with other animals. Capybaras like to live near the water, swim and frolic during the day, and forage for food on the shore in the evening, living a laid-back life.
As herbivores, capybaras eat not only tree bark, reeds, water hyacinths and pastures, but also their own droppings!
Plants contain a lot of fiber, which is difficult for most animals to digest, as a rodent, although capybaras have a long intestine, because the food stays in it for too short a time, the plant's nutrients can not be fully absorbed, so in the long evolutionary process, capybaras have learned to ruminate and eat feces again in order to obtain more nutrients.
Sounds disgusting, but eating feces is not uncommon in the animal kingdom and is a natural and beneficial behavior for some animals. For example, baby koalas eat their mother's feces for probiotics, which help break down fiber and absorb nutrients.
And in the capybara family, the feces of its close relatives, guinea pigs, also have a unique nutritional value, and studies have found that the crude protein content in the feces of guinea pigs is as high as 14%-17%, which makes their excrement a potential feed additive.
In fact, some farmers have begun to experiment with guinea pig feces as supplementary feed to livestock to improve their growth rate and meat quality.
And the rich nutrients in capybara feces are undoubtedly an important reason for attracting other animals. For herbivores, protein and fiber can be supplemented, and for those animals that have difficulty digesting certain foods, microorganisms need to be obtained from them.
However, for many carnivores, the meat quality of the capybara is their real "favorite", after all, a piece of "big fat meat" weighing more than 100 catties is enough to make predators salivate.
Capybaras have made many friends in the animal kingdom with their gentle personality and unique bowel habits. They not only provide delicious "special snacks" for other animals, but also become a "big meal" for the animals, and this interesting survival philosophy makes this "big rat" a unique landscape in the wetland ecology.
Information source: "The capybara that loves to eat feces is actually a fish?" The Paper
