Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Making a happy sound something like a chirping purr, Diego lifts his sizable, whiskered snout to greet his latest visitor. Only a week into his stay at the North Florida Wildlife Center, Diego is already enjoying friendly encounters. He's eagerly welcoming humans into his living space, where they can lounge on a garden bench and give his stiff-haired belly a satisfying scratch.
“He's extremely sweet and loves attention,” says Katie Sylvain, an animal care specialist at the center, as she offers him some vegetables and fruit. “Right now I'm feeding him some bell pepper. He also gets romaine lettuce – any type of greens, really. Then he gets guinea pig pellet.”
The guinea pig pellet is fed to him because it is nutritionally adequate and includes extra vitamin C, something both capybara and guinea pigs, who are closely related, require.
Perchance Diego will take a splash in his pool because, as a capybara, he's equipped with semi-webbed feet that make members of his species excellent swimmers. It might be a pretty big splash, too, because capybaras are the largest rodents on Earth, measuring twice the size of a beaver. His relatives in the wilds of South America enjoy paddling around in forest-lined waterways, wetlands and seasonally flooded savannas. After a swim, their wiry fur dries very quickly.
“Diego goes in his pool a couple of times a day,” says Director Ryan Reines. “In the wild, capybaras stay by the riverside so they can dart into the water if there is danger. Diego does not seem to swim a whole lot, which makes sense, because he's just doing it for fun. He's not in danger here.”
Capybaras don't mind living alone, but they can live in a social herd of up to 40. Diego is the only capybara currently in residence at the Wildlife Center, but Reines says they are hoping to bring in a female capybara companion for him as soon as possible. In the meantime, Diego is adapting very well to lots of human interaction.
Though his species is not endangered or threatened like most of the animals at the center, Diego is making a great ambassador who can provide a meaningful introduction to the center's conservation work. Eventually, Diego will be part of the center's larger South America section that is under development.
“When [reorganizing habitats by zones] happens, it will include the South American monkeys, the giant anteaters,” says Reines, adding that there will also be zones for Australia and Madagascar.
The Wildlife Center is located at 1386 Cook Rd. in Lamont. Explore the website NorthFloridaWildlife.org for information about general admission as well as special opportunities, such as an encounter with Diego.
IN THE FEATURED PHOTO: Hello, Diego! ECB Publishing, Inc. Photo by Laura Young, March 17, 2026