Sofia Saienko
Staff reporter
On the Internet for last couple years, you might have seen pictures of funny looking giant guinea pigs called capybaras. According to capybara facts, the capybara is the largest rodent in the world, growing to a size of up to 134 cm and weighing up to 66 kg. This animal leads a semi-aquatic life, spending a lot of time in the water and because of it they are particularly good swimmers. Capybaras feed on grass and limit their selection to only a few plants. Like cows, they eat their own feces to aid digestion. Despite their unusual eating preferences, they are very friendly. Capybaras let other animals to seat on top of them, because of that, they are called “nature’s chairs.”
“Capybaras can sleep in water which is pretty cool. But they can also run as fast as a dog on land.“ said Carolin Raum Davina, grade 11.
According to Kristin Merrilees’ article there are a lot of reasons to love capybaras which is why they became so popular. Capybaras are not only funny and entertaining, but also beautiful animals.
“I think what I like the most about their physical appearance is that they somehow look peculiar, it’s probably for their squished nose and the funny face, I’ve never seen another animal that’s like a capybara, they’re really unique,” said Ariel Longo, grade 12. “As I’ve already said before, they’re also really goofy, what I really like about them is that they seem friendly and chill, I absolutely love when they try to fit in big wooden barrels full of water, they’re just funny and cute.”
In my opinion capybaras became the new cat videos on the Internet because of their cuteness and charming they took over most of the Internet and people became obsessed with those adorable animals. People love watching videos with capibaras in the pool and oranges and probably those videos from Japanese zoo were head starters for that big popularity.
“I think the movie Encanto made them popular. After that, everyone was smitten by their beauty.” said Naomi Pausche, grade 12.
“I think capybaras became popular around 2021 thanks to TikTok and social media, they’re mostly associated with funny memes and silly couple aspirational pictures so it’s something that teenagers are likely to appreciate and share.” added Longo.
TikTok has made a big contribution to the popularity of these funny animals. At a certain point in time on this platform were very popular videos with capybaras with song “After Party” by Don Toliver. I think it was capibara’s peak of popularity on Internet. You can still meet a lot of videos of capybara, and I think they will be popular for really long time.
Because of capybara’s friendly nature some people began to wind the capybaras as a pet. The capybara can be trained and with the right training can live in a home with other companion animals like dogs and cats. However, having a wild animal as a pet is different than owning an animal that has been domesticated for many years. “I would absolutely like to have one as a pet. I would name him Timothy and I will feed him oranges.” added Pausche.