By TOSHIYUKI TAKEYA/ Staff Writer
December 16, 2016 at 10:00 JST
Editor's note: This is part of a series of videos offering an up-close perspective on the animal kingdom. A special 360-degree video camera system was set up in zoos and other facilities to show how the animals view their world as they interact.
Also visit our special 360-DEGREE LIVES page (http://t.asahi.com/360lives), where you can watch all the previous videos.
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FUKUYAMA, Hiroshima Prefecture--They are friendly to humans and are gentle-hearted, and therefore they hit the spot at any zoo ... enter the capybara.
The birth of capybaras was celebrated at Fukuyama City Zoo for the first time in two years in the summer of 2016.
The capybara family has four babies whose fur is smooth and soft, unlike the parents, which have wiry and rough hair.
When zoo attendant Kota Toshi, 26, and I stepped inside their home to set up the video camera, the capybaras looked at me in unison and probably thought, “Who are you?”
The parents began chomping on grass--their favorite food--handed out by Toshi, and this prompted the babies to munch, too.
Then, the remote live feed went dark as one of the babies started trying to eat the camera lens filter. Gnawing marks were left on it, which led to the camera focusing on the marks, and us having to stop the shooting.
The capybara is the world’s largest rodent in the order Rodentia, according to Toshi. They originated in South America and live in grasslands and wetlands along rivers. They are good swimmers thanks to their webbed feet. Although they may appear slow, they can run surprisingly fast, Toshi added.
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