The population of St. Cloud just got bigger…
Mother Penelope and father P.J. welcomed four baby capybaras on Aug. 10. Native to Central and South America, the parents were brought to the Amazing Animals preserve in St. Cloud from different facilities, and this is their seventh litter together.
Kylie Reynolds has been the deputy director at Amazing Animals for nearly 11 years. She said the little ones are already well-adjusted to life at the preserve.
“The capybaras love getting to meet new people,” Reynolds said. “Even with the babies people are able to go in, and mom Penelope is super trusting of us and really enjoys getting extra snacks.”
Amazing Animals Inc. Preserve is located on 2.5 acres and a home for more than 40 species – right in Reynolds’ backyard. The preserve is open to the public through private tours which can be booked through their website: https://www.amazinganimalsinc.org/Bookaprivatetour.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, 100% of the proceeds go toward taking care of the animals in the preserve.
Reynolds said the capybaras start their day with a healthy breakfast of squash, zucchini, sweet potato, among other greens. The animals nap while handlers clean their exhibit, then guests are brought in for a one-on-one experience to feed them and just hang out.
The world’s largest rodents, native to South American, they spend most of their time lounging in the pond and rolling around in the mud. During hot summer days, they set up a sprinkler so the capybaras can stay cool and have some fun in the sun.
Reynolds said once the babies are weaned at about six weeks old, they’ll be ready to find their forever home at other facilities.
“We really love working with Gatorland, they actually have two of our capybaras, Ben and Jerry,” Reynolds said. “It’s really awesome to work with other great facilities that have kind of the same mission that we do.”
