skip to content
Cofrin Center for Biodiversity

Gamboa Wildlife!!

Despite what Dr. Katers says there is more to the wildlife of Panama than mangy dogs, wild chickens, “birds”, and “bugs”. Today we took a walk down to the resort in Gamboa. While we were there we saw a herd of Capybara. They were munching the grass before we scared them into the pond. Capybara are fascinating creatures. They are the largest rodents in the world. Some of them are the size of small pigs, reaching up to 100 pounds. They are also semi-aquatic, like beavers of muskrats by us. They hang out by water with lots of vegetation, which is their food source.  They are strict vegetarians. We also saw a few Agoutis, which are equivalent to squirrels at home. You find them everywhere. They are also quite strange looking, but not nearly as big as Capybaras. Agoutis have the hind legs of a rabbit, made for hopping, but their feet are very very thin. 

Capybara Crossing


Capybara Herd


Two Agouti

So far on the trip we have also found numerous geckos anywhere you look. We have seen bats of many types, and we have definately captured a whole bunch of interesting and unique spiders.  These are just a few members of the tremendously different fauna found here in Panama.  These last few days are sure to be filled with many more exciting finds.