A capybara, described as the world’s largest rodent, brought excitement, curiosity and a bit of fear to the capital city early yesterday morning, after it was spotted roaming along Independence Square, Port-of-Spain.
How the capybara made its way into the capital city remained a mystery but the sight of the 150-pound, 4-foot rodent was enough to prompt people on their way to work to call the police, who in turn contacted the director and founder of the El Socorro Wildlife Centre Ricardo Meade.
Meade explained that he was on his way into Port-of-Spain around 5.15 yesterday morning, when he got a call from the police that a capybara was spotted outside First Citizens bank along the Brian Lara Promenade.
When Meade arrived, he cornered the capybara in front of Royal Bank, where he managed to skilfully remove the animal and load it into his car.
Meade said around 11 am yesterday, he took the capybara to safety and back to more of its natural habitat—the Caroni Swamp. The capybara was released into the swamp near Nanan’s Bird Sanctuary Tours.
“We brought it here so it can reunite with other capybaras nearby and live out the rest of her life,” he said.
Meade said the animal has been designated a pest and people are allowed to slaughter it if it is on their private property, but he warned that it does not give anyone the right to kill the animal at will.
For those confused as to how such an animal could be in Port-of-Spain, Meade said the capybara could have escaped from someone or some institution in or around the capital city, or have wandered from the nearby Beetham landfill, where they search for food, swamplands or sewerage area on the southern side of the Beetham Highway.
Meade said the capybara is the largest rodent in the world and is related to the common rat, agouti and Lappe. He said the capybara would normally eat the green anaconda and is native to Trinidad and Tobago.
Meade also explained that population pressure is forcing the species out of its natural habitat and into other areas.