The world's largest and friendliest rodent can be visited at Fota Wildlife Park

The size of large dogs, Capybaras are found in the wild along forested rivers, ponds and marshes, endearing cuddly creatures resembling pigmy hippos with coats of brown hair

Often referred to as ‘the world’s friendliest animals’, some zoos allow children to pet these gentle giants known as Capybaras.

Freedom lies in being bold - Robert Frost.

According to Gerald of Wales, the Irish bishops of his day permitted the eating of barnacle geese during Lent. At any rate, diners who gorged themselves on goose flesh didn’t risk eternal damnation.

Geese disappeared in late spring and re-emerged in the autumn. That birds migrate wasn’t known in Gerald’s day; swallows were believed to spend the winter in the mud at the bottoms of ponds. 

The Doctrine of Signatures suggested that, since barnacles were similarly coloured to geese, they were goose eggs. The bird’s flesh had a fishy taste, confirming that geese were fish. But there was a problem with this doctrine; why were goslings never seen? Did the birds hatch fully grown from the molluscs?

But geese were not the only creatures to merit a Lenten dispensation. A furry mammal, currently in the news in England, was also exempt from the Lenten fast. In 1784, clerics in Venezuela managed to convince the Vatican that eating capybara was penitential. 

Found in every South American country except Chile, these giant relatives of rats and mice inhabit rivers and ponds. They have partially webbed feet and can stay submerged for up to six minutes. They must, the bishops argued, be fish.

Capybaras, the world’s largest rodents, can be seen in Fota Wildlife Park.

Capybaras, the world’s largest rodents, can be seen in Fota Wildlife Park. The size of large dogs, they are found in the wild along forested rivers, ponds and marshes, endearing cuddly creatures resembling pigmy hippos with coats of brown hair. 

The eyes, located high up on their large horse-like heads, give them a rather snooty aristocratic look. Social animals, they live in groups of 10 to 15 individuals. Females, slightly bigger than males, weigh up to 50kg.

Capybaras can regurgitate food and will ‘chew the cud’. Like rabbits and hares, they can eat their own droppings, extracting all the nutrients remaining in the waste.

Often referred to as ‘the world’s friendliest animals’, some zoos allow children to pet these gentle giants. During a visit to the Amazon rainforest some years ago, they peered at us inquisitively as we passed in our canoe. Oddly, South American crocodiles don’t eat capybaras, although jaguars do.

Richard Collins: "During a visit to the Amazon rainforest some years ago, the Capybaras peered at us inquisitively as we passed in our canoe. Oddly, South American crocodiles don’t eat capybaras, although jaguars do."

Two capybaras escaped from a zoo near Winchester last month. One was captured quickly and returned to the zoo. Her sister, Samba, however, is still on the loose (8th April), although zoo-keepers, armed with heat-seeking drones and a sniffer dog, are said to be ‘closing in’. 

When spotted by a dog-walker on the bank of a local river, she was filmed leaping noisily into the water with a great splash. That seemed odd, as aquatic animals normally enter rivers quietly to avoid alerting predators.

This is not the first capybara escape attempt. A pair, known as Bonnie and Clyde, escaped from Toronto’s High Park Zoo in May 2016 and held out, on the run, for 19 days before being recaptured.

Could Samba survive indefinitely living wild in England? Assuming that she is still on the loose, she will soon miss the comforts of being fed and found in her centrally-heated pen. 

Being a social animal, she will probably search in vain for others of her kind. It will be interesting to see how long she manages to hold out.