Welcome to Florida, Iyari!

The 10-month-old capybara traveled from California to Florida. Not on foot. People transported her. They wanted her to meet a male capybara. They hope the two will have pups.

Iyari will make her new home at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society. Her habitat holds a couple of tapirs. (Those are herbivores that look like pigs with trunks). But most importantly, there’s also a two-year-old male capybara. His name is Zeus.  

“We think that there’s a little bit of love in the air,” says zoo employee Mike Terrell.

If Iyari gets pregnant, it will take about five months for cubs to be born. Capybaras have an average litter of four.

Have you ever seen a capybara in a zoo? God gave these rodents of unusual size guinea pig-shaped bodies. He gave them partially webbed feet for swimming. At around four feet long, they are the largest rodent species in the world. They are from Central and South America. In the wild, the animals live in savannas and dense forests near water. And they like to hang out with other capybaras—sometimes in herds of up to 100.

Capybaras are not endangered. People work to make sure they stay that way. The herbivores eat plants. They keep waterways clean for other animals to live in.

“They’re critical to their ecosystem,” Mr. Terrell says.

And God said, “Let the Earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds.” — Genesis 1:24