Giant rodent native to South America ended up in Illinois river. A fisherman killed it

An Illinois bowfisherman spotted a massive rodent wandering along the St. Mary’s River recently, and after snapping a photo, he put an arrow through it.

Posing with the animal, which was killed in Randolph County, it appears much closer in size to a dog than a rat or guinea pig, photos shared in a Facebook post show, and it weighed between 80 and 90 pounds.

The creature was a capybara, and it was a long way from home.

Capybaras are the world’s largest species of rodent, known to grow up to 145 pounds and 4 feet in length, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

They are native to South America, though experts believe they may have established small populations in Florida, after some escaped from a research facility in the 1990s. But so far, they have not emerged as a significant threat to the local ecosystem.

“Any guesses on where it came from?” the Facebook post asks.

Doubtful the semi-aquatic critter could have walked its way to southern Illinois, even with a head-start in Florida, commenters speculated that it might have been somebody’s pet, either escaped or released.

While some criticized the fisherman for killing the capybara, others argued that it was the right move to eliminate a non-native and potentially invasive species.

“Some potential impacts of Capybaras are that they sometimes raid gardens or farms in search of food, such as melons, squashes, or grains and have also been hypothesized to be carriers of certain livestock diseases,” according to Florida wildlife officials.

It’s not clear if the fisherman, whose name was not shared, plans to make a meal out of the capybara. He’d be one of very few in the U.S. to have tasted it.

That may be an uncomfortable proposition among the many who find capybaras adorable and appreciate them more for their potential as pets than as a food source. But the rodents have long been killed and eaten in parts of Latin America, where they are considered a delicacy — and apparently for good reason.

“The meat of these rodents is very nutritious, having high concentrations of protein and polyunsaturated fatty acid,” according to a study published in 2020.

Where the capybara in Illinois came from, or how it wound up so far out of its element, remains a mystery.

McClatchy News has reached out to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for comment.

This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Giant rodent native to South America ended up in Illinois river. A fisherman killed it."