Diet

Capybaras eat a mix of aquatic vegetation, grasses, barks, tubers, sugar cane and plant roots.

They need to eat a lot because they have a limited ability to store fat in their bodies.

In fact, capybaras can’t go for long periods of time without food and can undergo periods of starvation if they don’t find enough food to eat on a consistent basis.

The capybara has a four-chamber stomach that allows them to digest tough plant materials that humans can’t digest easily.

In addition, this multi-chambered stomach is extremely efficient at pulling out nutrients from plans.

They are very selective feeders and feed on the leaves of one species and disregard other species surrounding it.

They eat a greater variety of plants during the dry season, as fewer plants are available.

While they eat grass during the wet season, they have to switch to more abundant reeds during the dry season.

Plants that capybaras eat during the summer lose their nutritional value in the winter, so they are not consumed at that time.

• Aquatic plants
• Sedges
• Grasses
• Crowngrass
• Switchgrass
• Bermuda grass
• Hay
• Bark
• Plant roots
• Reeds