Azara’s Agouti (Dasyprocta Azarae)

Conservation Status: Data Deficient*
Population: Data deficient*
Origin: South America - Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Eastern Bolivia
Habitat: Montane and lowland forests, dry cerrado (savannah and scrubland) and the Gran Chaco
Diet: Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, roots and leaves. If food is scarce they will occasionally eat insect larvae
Predators: Cats (mainly jaguars, pumas and ocelots), coatimundi, snakes, large birds of prey and humans
Size: 49 - 64cm (head to tail)
Weight: 2 - 3kg

Azara's agoutis are an elusive South American rodent, named after the Spanish naturalist Felix de Azara. They are diurnal, meaning they are active in the day and sleep at night, though they spend much of their day hiding from predators while they forage for food. Relatively solitary by nature, they establish their territories using a combination of vocalisations and scent marking to keep out unwanted visitors! They are fast, agile (capable of jumping 2 metres high!), walking and trotting on their digits with five toes on their front feet but only three toes on their back feet. They eat sitting up on their hind legs, holding food in their front limbs.

Did you Know? Agoutis are known as 'jungle gardeners' - they will often bury nuts and seeds to come back to later, only to then forget where they've buried them; this in turn helps new plants to grow! They are also thought to be the only mammal that can open a brazil nut, thanks to their exceptionally sharp teeth!

*Due to their elusive nature, they are extremely hard to study so there is not enough scientific information available currently to classify them properly. However, they are thought to be at risk, with their main threats being habitat destruction and hunting, which may mean they have gone locally extinct in some areas.