Capybaras Alf and Lata made their debut at the Mykolaiv Zoo
The young animals were brought from the Kovalovskyi Ecopark in the autumn of 2025; after quarantine they are settling into a summer enclosure with a pool and wooden decorations
In Mykolaiv, capybaras Alf and Lata, which had been kept indoors since October 2025, went out to visitors for the first time at the Mykolaiv Zoo.
Deputy head of the hoof-and-trunk department Olena Koval, cited by Suspilne, spoke about the daily life of the new wards and their keeping conditions.
The male Alf and the female Lata are getting used to the renovated summer enclosure; the age difference between them is approximately one month: Alf was born in February, and Lata in March.
Both animals were born at the Kovalivsky Ecopark in 2025, and in October they were brought to Mykolaiv. The animals first underwent quarantine, lived indoors when the cold set in, and now have free access to the summer area.
“They have a feeding area, a little house they can go into, a pool and wooden decorations. They like to climb on them and go under them. We sowed lawn grass; when it comes up it will look very nice,” said Deputy Head of the hoof-and-trunk department Olena Koval.
Capybaras prefer warm conditions, so they especially enjoy water and diving. The animals already willingly use the pool, and the bolder Lata was the first to go outside and the first to dive in.
Their diet consists of green fodder, hay and branches of fruit trees, with about 5 percent made up of apples and carrots.
Conditions have been created for the pair to produce offspring in the future. At the moment Alf and Lata still look like adolescents, and in six months to a year their weight will reach approximately 30–40 kilograms.
Previously we wrote:
- Lions, giraffes and people with big hearts: Mykolaiv Zoo is 125 years old
- Watermelons, water and birds on the back: in Mykolaiv children will be given a lecture about capybaras
- A cat, a bottle and two wild cats: in Mykolaiv a lynx and a puma were raised at home
- Short on hands: Mykolaiv Zoo is calling for volunteers to clean the ponds
- Why tapirs and capybaras disappeared: Mykolaiv Zoo explained the situation
- New stars of the zoo: amusing rodents have settled in Mykolaiv
