San Fernando de Apure Journal

In Venezuela, Rodents Can Be a Delicacy

On Hato El Cedral, a capybara roams free. 

By SIMON ROMERO

Published: March 21, 2007

SAN FERNANDO DE APURE, Venezuela, March 17 — As dusk fell on the tropical wetland crawling with iguanas and small crocodilian caimans, José Ismael Jiménez pointed his harpoon at a rodent about the size of a Labrador retriever. With aim that comes from years of practice, he landed his spear on the back of its head.

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A Rodent as a Holiday Treat

The New York Times

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Farmhands turned hunters stalking the wild capybara, reputedly the world’s largest rodent, on Saturday on Hato Santa Luisa. One of them hurled a harpoon at a wounded capybara. The meat is then salted and dried. 

But this hunt was not about ridding the country’s southern plains of varmints. It was about what’s for dinner.

The hunter’s only goal was the meat of the capybara, reputed to be the world’s largest rodent. Unlike other South American countries, including Argentina and Brazil, where capybaras are raised mainly for their hides, here the rodent’s meat is a sought-after delicacy, fetching prices almost double those for beef.

“This job is harder than cattle,” Mr. Jiménez said while on a nighttime hunt on Hato Santa Luisa, a ranch spread over more than 40,000 acres on Venezuela’s plains. “But it’s just as rewarding.”

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