Caplin Rous Capybara

Many escapees from captivity can also be found in similar watery habitats around the world. Sightings are fairly common in Florida, although a breeding population has not yet been confirmed. Though it has been erroneously stated that a population of capybara existed in the River Arno in Florence, Italy, this was determined to be the nutria or coypu (Myocastor coypus), a considerably smaller South American aquatic rodent with a similar appearance.
• Diet and predation
Capybaras are herbivores, grazing mainly on grasses and aquatic plants, as well as fruit and tree bark. An adult capybara will eat 6 to 8 pounds (2.7 to 3.6 kg) of grasses per day. Capybara are very selective feeders with four to six plant species making 75% of its diet. They will select the leaves of one species and disregard other species surrounding it. Capybaras eat a greater variety of plants during the dry season as there are fewer plants available. While they eat grass during the wet season, they have to switch to reeds during the dry season as they are more abundant. Plants that capybaras eat during the summer lose their nutritional value in the winter and the thus not consumed at that time. The capybara's jaw hinge is non-perpendicular and they thus chew food by grinding back and forth rather than side-to-side. Capybaras are coprophagous, meaning they eat their own feces as a source of bacterial gut flora and to help digest the cellulose in the grass that forms their normal diet and extract the maximum protein from their food. They may also regurgitate food to masticate again, similar to cud-chewing by a cow.
Like its cousin the guinea pig, the capybara does not have the capacity to synthesize vitamin C, and capybaras unsupplemented with vitamin C in captivity have been reported to develop gum disease as a sign of scurvy.