Pigs are familiar to everyone. They are the main source of meat in our country. In any province or region, as long as there is land, pig farms will almost be built. However, the pigs here are raised on land, but there is a kind of "pig" raised in water over there in South America, and it has become the main food of the locals. The "pig" raised in this water is the capybara.

< p>Capybaras are not real pigs, but they do look a bit like pigs, with their fat bodies. According to the biological classification, capybaras belong to the order Rodentia, the family Guinea family, and the genus Capybara. There are three subspecies under this genus, all of which are relatively large rodents (in fact, they are also the largest animals currently known to humans). rodents).

< p>How big is a capybara? They are definitely not as good as pigs raised by humans, but considering their size, they are definitely considered fat. The shoulder height of an adult capybara is about 50 centimeters, the average body length exceeds 1 meter, and the average weight can exceed 100 kilograms. Moreover, the female capybara is larger than the male, and the adult female capybara can even reach a weight of 120 kilograms. Just like a fat pig.

Of course, capybaras do not stay in land-based pig farms like pigs. This animal spends a long time in the water throughout the day. They are very good at swimming and diving. Once in the water, capybaras, which are originally slightly clumsy on land, become very lively and agile. Because their body density is relatively low and they have enlarged fat glands, they can easily float on the water without making any movements.

But the borders of South America are also full of dangers at all times, especially for animals like capybaras, which are covered in meat. There are a lot of predators hiding in the dark watching them, such as jaguars and caiman. Capybaras may be eaten by jaguars on land (jaguars can also swim, but not very well), and may be attacked by caiman crocodiles in the water.

In order to increase the survival rate of the group, capybaras generally live in small groups, with the number of members in a group being approximately 16. Capybaras have a variety of communication methods, such as through smell, sound, etc. It is worth mentioning that capybaras are animals that can make a variety of sounds, such as growling, hissing, and even making sounds similar to human whistles. The information that these different sounds can convey through combination is also very complex. With this unique way of communication, capybaras greatly reduce the probability of being hunted by each other.

< p>However, no matter how complex the capybara’s early warning system is, it is of little use to humans. Ever since people in South America discovered that this fat animal was edible, a large number of capybaras have been hunted by humans. Later, in order to prevent the delicious capybaras from being eaten up, the locals also developed the industry of breeding capybaras. The strong reproductive capacity of capybaras (an average of 6 babies per litter) has also brought a lot of economic benefits to those who breed capybaras.

For animals, good meat quality, fatness, and strong reproductive ability are very dangerous signals. Either you will be eaten to extinction, or you will become the eternal slave of mankind. There are a total of 300 million tons of people in the world, but 700 million tons of animals have been domesticated and used as human food reserves. In addition, the total weight of animals that can truly live freely only weighs about 100 million tons. This is human civilization.

More than 27,000 species on earth go extinct every year, and it may be difficult for us to prevent all of this. But for each of us, starting from ourselves, respecting life is the best thing we can do.