The Capybara is one of the most interesting South American Animals. In fact, its the world’s largest rodent! They’ve got short, barrel-shaped bodies with sparse hair.
The hair is so sparse, actually, on full-grown capybaras, that they are prone to sunburns in the hot south american sun. To combat the heat and sun rays, they tend to spend much of their time in the water. Apparently, they are excellent swimmers! They’ve been known to sleep completely underwater except for their snout, which they stick up above the surface in order to breathe. They can also hold their breath for over five minutes.
A capybara does have to be careful, though. Their favorite hideout — the waters and marshes of South America, is also the home of the South American Anaconda! Many capybaras have been known to be a rather large meal for that very hungry snake. It is actually the preferred food source for the anaconda.
Capybaras actually have a life span of 8-10 years, but living in the dangerous wild of South America seems to severely cut down on their lifespans. They are a favorite food of some of the most dangerous animals in South America and are routinely hunted for their meat, which people say seems to taste similar to pork.
To combat the threat of predators, Capybaras stay in packs, with the most dominant male at the center of the pack. He presumably has access to the best resources and is alerted first if their is danger in the area. I would assume that it’d be good to be the dominant male capybara — but I certainly wouldn’t want to be caught out on the edge of the pack.
Humans become another of the predators of the capybara and many times this poor rodent has been hunted so much for its meat and its fur that its come close to being put on the endangered species list. Some farmers also have seen them as competition in grazing for the animals they DO want to raise, so they’ll go on capybara killing sprees to thin out their numbers. Somehow, they always seem to bounce back in number. The capybaras can breed very rapidly and the sperm of the male capybara lasts much longer than that of other rodents — making this a very resilient creature.
The main habitat for the capybara is right in the middle of the South American jungle. They tend to prefer wooded and marshy areas and are right at home in the dense jungle. Some capybaras have made it as far north as Florida, but probably just from having escaped some form of captivity — there have even been some people who have adopted this huge rodent as pets. A MUCH, much larger version of a hamster 
It is illegal, though, in some states to keep them as pets. I mean, afterall, you’d really want to think long and hard before you took on the investment of keeping this HUGE rodent as a real-life pet.