Why Are Capybaras So Calm?

Capybaras look calm because the way they live lets them be: they stay in groups with plenty of eyes on watch, they keep water close as an escape route, they spend the day grazing slowly and resting, and they put up with birds climbing on them to pick off pests. Nobody has measured a capybara's "calm", but what has been studied explains that famous all-is-well face pretty well. And they aren't always as calm as they look.

They live in groups, and groups keep watch

Capybaras usually live in groups of about 10: a dominant male, one or more females, some subordinate males and young. In the wet season as many as 40 may gather together, according to the San Diego Zoo, which puts it simply: it helps to have many sets of eyes watching out for the youngsters.

With so many on watch, each one can let its guard down a little. That's why the photos so often show one capybara asleep in the middle of the group.

Water is their emergency exit

A capybara doesn't have to outrun anything: it has water. According to the San Diego Zoo, a capybara can stay underwater for up to five minutes to hide from predators. And its eyes, ears and nostrils sit near the top of its head, so it can be almost fully submerged and still see, hear and breathe.

An animal that knows exactly where to run doesn't need to live on edge. That's also why capybaras rarely stray far from water.

They eat slowly and rest a lot

They're grazers: an adult capybara eats 6 to 8 pounds of grass a day (San Diego Zoo). Eating that much grass takes time, and nobody rushes it.

A study of capybaras in a Brazilian city found they spent most of their time in the water or at rest, and that the hotter it got, the more of them were in the water (Teodoro and Aoki, Oecologia Australis, 2019). When your day is eat, soak, rest, it's easy to look at peace.

Birds use them as cleaning stations

In Brazil, several bird species forage on capybaras: they pick off ticks, snap up the horseflies that land on them and comb through their fur. Researchers Ivan and Cristina Sazima documented jacanas, cowbirds and other birds doing it, and even capybaras holding still, "posing", while a bird cleaned them (Sazima and Sazima, Biota Neotropica, 2010).

For the capybara it's a good deal: someone takes the bugs away. For anyone watching, it's the perfect picture of an animal at peace.

But they aren't always calm

Capybaras are prey. Their main natural predator is the jaguar, and caimans, ocelots, harpy eagles and anacondas hunt them too, especially the young (San Diego Zoo). When capybaras feel threatened, they wait for the cover of night to eat.

They aren't endlessly patient with birds, either: in the same Sazima study, a large capybara stood up and walked off after a caracara pulled a tick from it, and the smaller capybaras nearby backed away from the bird.

Their calm isn't a lack of worry. It's knowing where the water is, who's keeping watch, and when it's time to hide.

What they teach the rest of us

Maybe that's why we love them so much: they live surrounded by danger and still take the afternoon slowly, together, without letting go of their own. To see them at their most relaxed, look at how they soak in hot baths in Japan every winter: the capybara hot spring bath. And if you have a capybara-loving friend, here are capybara Christmas gifts.

Capy, our capybara, is just as calm, but she's a character, not a real animal: she always waits for her best friend, Bara, who never sits still. Meet them here.