As the largest rodents in the world, most capybaras spend their days munching on grass and water plants in dense vegetation around bodies of water. At a zoo in Texas, however, one capybara has stepped up as the latest in a series of baby animals to capture the internet’s attention this year.
Tupi — pronounced two-pee — was born on Dec. 3 at the San Antonio Zoo, and is the first of the species, scientifically known as Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, to be born at the facility in 25 years, according to a statement from the zoo. Thanks to the power of social media, he is already famous.
“Their births are not super rare. At the end of the day they are still rodents,” Jacob Downing, a spokesman for the zoo, said in a phone interview. “However, we haven’t had capybaras at the zoo since 2018, we just got them back this year, and we haven’t had babies since 2000, so we’re super excited about these guys.”
The zoo announced Tupi’s birth on its social media accounts late last week, getting an outpouring of internet love. But in a twist that seemed perfect to close out 2024, less than an hour after the announcement, the zoo followed its post with a statement that Tupi and the zoo are not affiliated with a memecoin — $TUPI — that had been named after the animal.
“Please be aware that San Antonio Zoo is not associated with or benefiting from the Cryptocurrency named after Tupi, the new baby capybara born at San Antonio Zoo,” the facility said in a statement posted on X.
Memecoins are a form of cryptocurrency which are named after memes, characters, animals and other things related to the internet in hopes of drawing interest. (Yes, there is also one named for Moo Deng, the year’s biggest baby animal star.)
As the crypto market experienced a revival this year, memecoins also surged, even as some, like the $HAWK coin created by Haliey Welch, appeared to exist solely to benefit the group of people behind the coin.
Mr. Downing did not have any comments on the $TUPI coin beyond what the zoo had said in its statement, but said he was pleased by the massive interest in the zoo’s baby star.
2024 has been a good year to be a cute baby animal at a zoo. Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo in Thailand, became a massive star, which zookeepers hope will turn into funding and awareness of her species. In October, Moo Deng received a rival: Haggis, a baby pygmy hippo born in Scotland, who got his own wave of internet fame.
Along the way, social media users have heaped praise on the animals, personifying them with popular internet lingo.
In Tupi’s case, the zoo gave him a mantra to head into the new year: “Unbothered. Moisturized. Happy. In My Lane. Focused. Flourishing.”
The zoo is doing its part to continue to stoke the popularity of Tupi by providing plenty of footage of the nearly 3-week-old capybara. Tupi is still nursing from his 3-year-old mother, Luna, but has already begun eating solids, Mr. Downing said. In one of the videos shared by the zoo, Tupi climbed entirely into a bowl of food in order to feast.
Although he’s sticking close to his mother in their habitat, which the capybaras share with anteaters, Tupi is starting to become more independent. The zoo said that guests were encouraged to come and visit him, Luna and his aunt, Ginny.
“Eventually, once he’s taking off he’ll start going swimming and things like that,” Mr. Downing said. “They’re pretty laid-back animals. They spend a lot of the day grazing and chilling out.”
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