A small brown agouti with speckled fur sits on a forest floor covered with leaves and twigs, surrounded by blurred green foliage.

Azara's agouti

Azara’s agouti are a medium-sized rodent found across South America, including Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, as well as Eastern Bolivia. Our group of Azara’s agouti can be found at the top of Lake Road, opposite our fishing cat enclosure

Azara's agoutiDasyprocta azarae

  • Class:

    Mammalia

  • Order:

    Rodentia

  • Family:

    Dasyproctidae

About the Azara's agouti

Azara's agouti are sociable rodents that live in tight-knit family groups where every member helps raise the young. They're primarily herbivores that eat a mix of fruits, nuts, seeds, and shoots, occasionally supplementing their diet with fungi or small invertebrates. While their small size may be deceptive, they are very strong swimmers and fast runners, jumping at speed to escape predators

Conservation

Azara’s agouti are currently listed as 'Data Deficient' - while they are thought to be at risk, scientists don’t have enough data to officially classify their conservation status. Habitat destruction and hunting pose the greatest threats to this species, which is likely to have caused their disappearance in several regions already

Interesting facts