Species Fact Profile: Patagonian Cavy (Dolichotis patagonum)

                                                         Patagonian Cavy (Mara)

Dolichotis patagonum (Zimmermann, 1780)

Range: Western and Southern Argentina

Habitat: Grassland, Scrubland 

Diet: Grasses, Leaves, Bushes

Social Grouping: Mated pairs living within communal warrens

Reproduction:  Monogamous, mate for life.  Breed August through January, give birth after 100 day gestation period in a communal den.  Usually 1-2 young per litter (up to 4), capable of walking almost immediately.  Weaned at 3 months old.  Sexually mature by 8 months.  Usually produce 1 litter per year, but in zoos can produce up to 4 per year

Lifespan: 10-15 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Near Threatened

•       Head and body length 70-75 centimeters, with a very short tail of 4-5 centimeters.  Weigh 8-16 kilograms.  Body plan resembles a jackrabbit (but with much shorter ears), with long, slim, muscular legs, the hindlegs longer than the fore ones.  The feet are small and compressed, resembling hooves.  Males slightly larger than females
•       Fur is gray on the back with a blacker rump offset by a white patch.  The sides and face are a reddish-tan.  The stomach and underside are white.
•       Time not spent feeding is often spent watching for predators, which include wild cats, foxes, mustelids, and birds of prey.  Watching for predators is the main contribution that the male makes towards the rearing of the young
•       Breeding females share a burrow, and may occasionally nurse each other's young, but overall do not cooperatively raise their litters
•       Semi-nomadic - they feed on the very tips of the grasses, which means that they exhaust their food sources readily and must constantly be on the move, the exception being when they are denned up for breeding.  Home ranges of up to 200 hectares 
•       Historically common, but have been subject to heavy hunting pressure, both for meat and for their pelts, as well as due to perceived competition for grazing lands with domestic animals.  They have been extirpated in some parts of their range
•       Face competition, as well as introduced diseases, from European hares, which have become established in Patagonia