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Capybara pp 261–274Cite as

Feeds and Nutrition of Farmed Capybaras

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Abstract

The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is, potentially, an excellent source of meat and leather (González-Jiménez 1995) due to its fecundity and other characteristics: it is robust, docile, and adapts easily to captive conditions. The main factor usually considered when domesticating any new species for meat production, however, is the animal’s diet, both from the economic and the biological point of view (Emmons 1987). Most domestic species that are widely used for meat production feed on grasses and/or grain crops, as well as agricultural by-products that can be mass-produced at low cost. Capybaras consume mainly grass (Ojasti 1973; Alho et al. 1987; Barreto and Quintana 2012), converting it into high-quality animal protein for human consumption (Murphey et al. 1985; Emmons 1987; Frasson and Salgado 1990; González-Jiménez 1995). This is one of the notable advantages to farming capybaras compared to other neotropical wild species, such as peccaries (Pecari tajacuand Tayassu pecari) and pacas (Cuniculus paca). In this chapter we examine the capybara’s nutritional requirements and describe the feeds and feeding practices used in scientific and commercial breeding centers.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. W. Mollineau, Dr. J.R. Moreira, Dr. M. Pinheiro, and anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on this manuscript. Alcester Mendes was supported by CAPES (Proc. 03010/2009-0) and Sérgio Luiz Gama Nogueira-Filho was supported by CNPq (Proc. 300587/2009-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Ilhéus Itabuna km 16, 45662-900, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil

    Alcester Mendes & Sérgio L. G. Nogueira-Filho

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  1. Alcester Mendes
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  2. Sérgio L. G. Nogueira-Filho
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Correspondence to Alcester Mendes .

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  1. Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnolog, Av. W5 Norte, Brasília, DF-70770, Brazil

    José Roberto Moreira

  2. , Departamento de Ciências Florestais, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Pádua Dias 11, Piracicaba, 13418-900, São Paulo, Brazil

    Katia Maria P.M.B. Ferraz

  3. Universidad Simón Bolívar, Miranda-Apartado, Caracas, 8900, Venezuela

    Emilio A. Herrera

  4. , Zoology Dept., University of Oxford, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Oxford, OX13 5QL, United Kingdom

    David W. Macdonald

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Mendes, A., Nogueira-Filho, S.L.G. (2013). Feeds and Nutrition of Farmed Capybaras. In: Moreira, J., Ferraz, K., Herrera, E., Macdonald, D. (eds) Capybara. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4000-0_15

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