Sussex Zoo welcomes surprise capybara twins

Drusillas Park keepers discovered capybara Mum-of-four Clementine was in labour. Just an hour later, she had safely delivered two baby capybara twins, who are now thriving alongside elder siblings Squash, Marmalade, and Tango.

After a few false alarms earlier in the month, capybara Mum Clementine welcomed two new new pups on July 3, to create a family of six.

Despite being introduced to numerous suitors, Clementine didn’t hit it off with any of her prospective partners and there had been no capybara babies at the zoo for 11 years. Then, in 2021, Augustus arrived at the zoo and he and Clementine welcomed their first baby, Satsuma, in summer 2022.

Satsuma has now left Drusillas to go and start his own family at Ventura Wildlife Foundation, but Clementine and Augustus’s brood continues to grow, with the twins joining capybara triplets born last September.

Head Keeper Gemma Romanis said: “We are so delighted to welcome these adorable capybara babies to the zoo. We thought Clementine was expecting, but didn’t know exactly when the pups would arrive, so it was a lovely surprise to discover her in labour and support her as she gave birth.

“Any baby is special, but it feels really wonderful for Clementine to grow her family again, after the journey she’s had to get here. She really struggled to find a mate she connected with, so the fact that she found ‘the one’ and has now had 6 babies with him is just lovely. A real ‘happily ever after’ ending!

“Since they were born earlier this month, the two loveable new additions are being beautifully cared for by their doting Mum and Dad and playing with their brother and sisters. Clementine is such a good mother, and the keeper team are all very impressed with how well she looks after all her babies – she’s a real supermum!”

With the new arrivals, the Sussex Zoo Park now has six capybaras, and they are asking the public to help decide the name of the two new pups – one girl and one boy. To vote for your favourite name, head to Drusillas Park socials.