August 25, 2000 "According to Emilio Herrera, a biologist and capybara expert at Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas Venezuela: 'It is true that capybaras are eaten during Lent, but only in Venezuela, and even there not everywhere. However, its dried and salted meat is highly appreciated and is a traditional lenten dish. The annual capybara harvest is legal and regulated by government. The well-designed management plan (based on a study by Juhani Ojasti published in 1973) has been in operation for many years and is very successful, contributing income to ranchers, meat for people, and not damaging their populations.'" From The Capybara Page Read more about capybara meat here. 12:08 PM According to The Philly Zoo, the capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) is the largest living rodent. It stands 20-24 inches (~51-61 cm) tall at the shoulder and weighs anywhere from 77 to 145 pounds (~35-66 kg). It originates from South America, east of the Andes Mountains from Panama to northeastern Argentina. The average wild lifespan is 8-10 years. In captivity, it can be as high as 12 years. Their wild diet consists mostly of grasses that grow in or near the water, as well as water plants, melons and sqaush. In captivity (or, more specifically, at the Philly Zoo), their diet consists of large rodent pellets, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. They live mostly on land, although they live near water and spend a great deal of time in the water. Their natural predators are jaguars, caimans and anacondas, and are sometimes hunted by man. 12:05 PM Our currently featured exotic animal is the capybara! 10:47 AM July 28, 2000 It is with great pleasure that we present the first entry of Mochi and Koji's exotic animal safari blog. This is the first stage in what we hope will be a very informative and entertaining corner of the Web. In the future, we hope to add pictures of ourselves, as well as some information on chinchilla care. We hope all you naked apes out there enjoy this. ^_^ Mochi and Koji. 2:13 PM