Hugh Begy, age 11, of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, for his question:

What is a capybara?

The remarkable capybara is the giant of the rodent clan. He lives on the side of the Andes, all the way from Panama to Paraguay. There, he also is known as the water pig or the water cavy. He looks somewhat like a plump, fair sized pig wearing a shabby dark coat of scrawny hairs. However, his square shaped face does not resemble a pig's snout, he has very, very small ears and no tail worth mentioning. He is four feet long, stands 21 inches high and tips the scales at about 120 pounds.

The capybara's unusual feet have webbed toes and long nails. Hence, he is well¬equipped to trot over hard ground or take to the water. He feeds on vegetation near streams and rivers, where he can dive to safety when threatened by a hungry jaguar. Apparently his meat is very tasty, which is why his most serious enemy is man. This large, inoffensive bunny type rodent is hunted on land and from canoes in the water. But at least at present, he seems fairly safe from being wiped out.