Capybara - Facts, Information and Everything You Wanted to Know About These Exceptional Animals
There has been very little scientific research done on capybaras other than physiological or for commercial purposes. This article is based on an interview/article by eminent Cognitive Ethologist, Marc Bekoff. He is an expert on Animal Emotions and the subject of this essay was Sheep. Reading his essay/interview I realised that everything he had to [ ]
643 extant species on the South American continental plate, 16 families and 159 genera according to the authoritative Mammals of South America, volume 2: Rodents. Total Rodent Diversity in South America. Major Rodent Lineages in South America, in the Neotropics. 50% of all South American mammal species are rodents. South America s rodent fauna is dominated [ ]
Four capybaras, Donut, Syrup, Whip and Ryosuke were sent away from the only home they had ever known, to a horrible zoo where they were desperately unhappy and unbearably stressed. Donut was the leader of the herd at Nagasaki Bio Park. He led a rich and rewarding life and enjoyed very high status. He was [ ]
I did a search on Google to see if people could find out what happened to Choco. What came up was a disgraceful travesty of the truth: Choco was relocated to a facility in China ! This made me so angry. The truth: Choco was sold to China. The Bio Park refused to tell people to [ ]
Enclosure Enrichment means creating an enclosure with resources and daily routines so that they can graze, swim, socialise, explore and manipulate their environment in ways which match their natural ecology. There are 2 primary objectives when creating Enclosure Enrichment for capybaras: 1. To recreate the behavioural opportunities capybaras would experience in their native habitat, the [ ]
Being overweight and eating high-fat foods put a heavy strain on the body. Fat tissue becomes inflamed, hormones stop working properly and organs that control hormones like the pancreas, liver and brain, get overloaded with fat. In large herbivorous rodents like capybaras, pacas and agoutis, this happens even faster because their bodies evolved for low [ ]
Housing that exposes capybaras to persistent fear or inescapable threat is not just unpleasant, it is scientifically expected to cause brain injury and increased risk of collapse or death. The stress mechanisms include: amygdala over activation, hippocampal damage and stress induced cardiac risk. Extreme stress produces measurable, well documented structural and functional changes in the [ ]
Animals grieve in ways that are recognisable, measurable and often heartbreakingly similar to humans. Across species, grief emerges when a strong social bond is broken: a mate, offspring, sibling or companion. The behaviours may vary, but the emotional logic is consistent: attachment to another being creates vulnerability to loss. Case Histories: After Aki s premature death [ ]
Photos and Videos – Evidence of Animals Suffering at Melios ZooΦωτογραφίες και Βίντεο – Αποδείξεις για την Κακοποίηση Ζώων στο Ζωολογικό Κήπο Μελίος Πρέπει να ληφθούν άμεσα μέτρα για την απομάκρυνση των καπιμπάρα από τον ζωολογικό κήπο Μελίος, καθώς τους επιτρέπεται να αναπαράγονται ανεξέλεγκτα και αυτή η κατάσταση οδηγεί σε καταστροφή. Τα καπιμπάρα βρίσκονται σε [ ]
Every good zoo in Europe is a member of EAZA, the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Zoos which are not members of EAZA are those which operate to much lower standards and do not want to follow the rules of the association, EAZA. These are mostly located in southern Europe. It is not unusual [ ]