Guinea pigs bigger than dogs ? then welcome to South America where the World’s largest rodent a close relative of the guinea pig is the Capybara.

It is both bigger and, weighing in at 60kg, heavier than most large dogs.  So South America has Guinea pigs bigger than dogs.

The Capybara is a vegetarian and lives most of its life in water, so this ‘guinea pig’ is more like a South American ‘hippo’.

The Ibera marshes of NE Argentina are 100 miles long and 60 miles wide.

It is a mosaic of wetlands interspersed with wooded islands and floating plant life.

This is ‘hippo heaven’.  The ‘Living Wild in South America’ expedition entered the area and we wanted to find this ‘guinea pig’ type animal and surprisingly had no trouble doing so.

 

There are few tracks that cross this immense waterscape but even in the remotest parts, Capybara are so numerous they almost become a nuisance.

To pass them, we would have to get out of our truck and herd them to one side.

 

As for filming them, this was no problem!