Sacramento Zoo’s new baby capybara finally has a name — and it fits him perfectly
You’re in for a laugh.
The Sacramento Zoo at 3930 W Land Park Drive recently named its new baby capybara Donatello or Donnie for short, according to a Thursday Facebook post. The name was inspired by one of the four main characters from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics.
The Donatello character typically rocks a purple eye mask and a wooden staff, his signature weapon for fighting crime. Similar to the fictional talking turtle, Donnie the baby capybara is a natural with a bamboo stick.
Facts about capybaras
Before Donnie was a superhero, he was born to be among one of the biggest rodents in the world.
According to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, one of the world’s largest rodents, capybaras stand 2 feet tall with brown, shaggy hair. All of their facial features — eyes, ears and noses — are crammed at the top of their head.
The creatures resemble a montage of animals; a beaver, a pig, a hippo and even a guinea pig.
“The capybara is not currently classified as endangered, although it is threatened by deforestation, habitat destruction, and illegal poaching,” the nonprofit conservation wrote on its website.
The dry-skinned rodents are typically found chilling near standing water with a swimming hole along Central and South America’s rivers, ponds and streams. The animals eat plants and grasses with the help of their long, sharp teeth.
Fun fact: Capybaras can swim just as well as they walk because of their webbed feet.
If you go to see the superhero in action, just be aware that he may eat his own feces for the “beneficial bacteria,” according to nonprofit organization Rainforest Alliance.
Donatello was born at The Sacramento Zoo in July to capybaras Chigüiro and Anna-Leroy, the same week the San Diego Zoo in Southern California welcomed their own rodents.
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