World’s Largest Rodent & Other Exotic Iguazu Falls Animals

by Kimberly

Six months ago I watched a PBS documentary about animals in South America. It featured the capybara, which — at 140 pounds — is the world’s largest rodent. The image of a ginormous hamster-beaver-bear stuck with me, so I was psyched to learn capybaras live in Iguazu Falls National Park (Parque Nacional Iguazú). I went on a mission to find one.

Luck was on my side and a capybara did come out to pose for a photo, along with lots of other exotic wildlife — from toucans and kites to coatis and lizards.

Capybara

You can’t tell how huge it is from the photo, but the capybara weighs 140 pounds and can be over 4 feet tall. Think black bear-sized guinea pig. This one was scavenging near Garganta del Diablo (the Devil’s Throat), one of the biggest waterfalls in the park.

Spectacled Caiman

This caiman — complete with a butterfly on his head — was lounging on a rock not far from the capybara.

Coati

It may look cute and innocent, but there were signs throughout the park warning visitors to hide food in the presence of this raccoon relative because they’ve been known to attack for food. So unlike the folks in this photo, I kept my distance from coatis and their sloth-like claws.

Toucan

Not the best shot of a toucan, but they don’t stay still for long! You can see its beak pointing toward the bottom of the photo. This isn’t a toco toucan (think Toucan Sam), though we did see a few of those fly by as well. But they were too fast to snap a picture.

Giant Ants

I have to admit I was a little bit afraid this ginormous ant would somehow leap off the ground and bite my hand. But it didn’t and now you can see how huge these ants are. I figure if a normal ant can carry a large leaf on its back, this one can probably carry a small child.

Butterflies

I’d never seen so many butterflies in my life. They were everywhere — in blue, pink, green, solids, patterns — swarming around us as we stepped onto new paths. One even landed on Elizabeth’s head and stayed there for a full minute before moving on.

Plumbeous Kite

Elizabeth captured this photo of a kite with the super zoom lens she borrowed from her mom (thanks Kathy!).

Vulture

Okay, maybe a vulture is more “disgusting” than “exotic,” but I had to include this photo because there was a gigantic colony of vultures hanging out on a nearby rock, with dozens more circling in the sky. Eerie. Even scarier is the fact that this photo was captured without the help of a zoom lens.

Lizard

These 3 foot long reptiles proved they weren’t afraid of people as they sunned themselves near hiking paths. They looked intimidating, though, and we captured this shot with the zoom.

Rodents

I’m not sure what these animals are called, but the first one was about the size of a guinea pig and didn’t seem to be afraid of people. The second was the size of a small beagle and was much more skittish. It ran across the trail far ahead of us. Update: I’ve since learned the second rodent is an agouti.