So “capy” to see you!
Two sister capybaras have been welcomed by a California zoo that released photos of them munching on bamboo stalks and a video that shows them paddling around their pool.
The adorable critters — which resemble large, hairy pigs with blunt snouts — are adjusting well to their new surroundings since arriving earlier this month, Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose said Thursday.
They were born just over a year ago at Texas’ Abilene Zoo and transferred on the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as part of its “Capybara Species Survival Plan,” according to Happy Hollow.
“Capybaras are a critical part of the Amazon Rainforest ecosystem, an endangered habitat, and we hope to kindle a spirit of conservation in our guests by giving them the opportunity to observe these animals in person,” Happy Hollow manager Amber Rindy said in a prepared statement.
The sisters were transferred from a Texas zoo. Happy Hollow Park & ZooThe web-footed mammals are the largest rodents in the world and are cousins to domestic guinea pigs.
Happy Hollow’s capybara habitat formerly housed a male, named Meenie, who was euthanized in March at age 12, about two years past its expected lifespan.
Zoo spokesperson Caitlin O’Hara told The Post that Happy Hollow hasn’t decided on names for the new females and doesn’t plan to breed them but that their enclosure “is designed to allow for the possibility.”
“If the Capybara Species Survival Plan was to recommend a male be moved to Happy Hollow sometime in the future to breed with our females, then we would follow that recommendation and accept that male, if possible,” O’Hara said.
