Capybara

This Capybara swims in a fish pond close to the Itaipu dam  at the boundary of Brazil and Paraguay. The capybara can swim, dive for several seconds and walk on land. They are the biggest rodents of the world and a typical sight at the water meadows of South America’s great streams, such as the Parana.

Making of: On a guided tour to the Itaipu biological reserve we saw three or four groups of Capybaras. The open wagon goes along the fish ponds that interleave the fish ladder enabling migration across the dam. Here a group of 5 or 6 of these rodens was seen. I found it interesting how they swim and waited until the light came from the right angle to see the head and part of the back of this water pig. As my time was limited I used Auto-Option of my camera. This picture may wrongly suggest that this capybara is alone. In fact capybaras are very social animals and there were several of them in the pond.