Big ol’ rodents have moved into Gatorland … but it’s a good thing. Two capybaras — brothers named Ben and Jerry — are now residents of the attraction’s petting zoo.
The little guys are a few months old and weigh 20 pounds apiece. Soon, they’ll be a bigger deal.
“These are the largest rodents in the entire world,” said Danielle Lucas, Gatorland’s animal-care director. “They’re basically like a giant guinea pig.”
They’re expected to top out at about 90 pounds. Gatorland received the duo about six weeks ago from a sanctuary in St. Cloud. Since then, they’ve doubled in size.
Gatorland visitors can interact and feed romaine lettuce to the capybaras, who spend their days swimming, sunning and rolling around in the mud.
(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
“They’re doing great — very socialized. They love to come up and be petted, and they love belly rubs,” Lucas said.
“You get a handful of people that are like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve seen them’ because anytime you see any kind of documentary on South America, they show capybaras,” said Brandon Fisher, director of media productions at Gatorland.
Capybaras are considered an invasive species in Florida.
“We’re very happy to get these guys from some good friends of ours and to be able to educate here on the species,” Fisher said. “Instead of invasive reptiles, now we can show some of the other mammals — fuzzy and cute.”
In north Florida, “there’s a colony of about 40 of these guys running around on the riverbeds, due to how fast they breed,” Lucas said. In the wild, they live to be about 4 to 6 years old, but in the protective quarters of a place such as Gatorland, they can live to about age 12, she said.
Gatorland’s capybaras have brown fur and webbed feet, which aid in swimming. (Their feet “feel like suede,” Lucas said.)
Ben and Jerry’s current neighbors are a collection of goats and an emu named Beeper. Down the road, the plan is to move them into a habitat with flamingos, their South American brethren, where there could be more room for swimming.
“When they have really deep water, they’ll dive all the way to the bottom, come right back up,” Lucas said. “They’re very graceful in the water.”
The petting zoo and the capybaras are included in regular Gatorland admission. For more information, go to gatorland.com.
Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. Want more theme park news? Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters or the Theme Park Rangers podcast at orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/theme-park-rangers-podcast.
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