Pepita the capybara had four pups overnight at Shepreth Wildlife Park

The Cambridgeshire park said the pups arrived on the night of October 15. Once their sexes are known, visitors will help give them food-inspired names.

By Tazzora Editorial TeamVerified · Source: BBC NewsOct 23, 2026 · 1 min read

How to help

Two capybaras resting side by side on the ground — Illustrative photo of capybaras at a zoo. These are not the pups born to Pepita at Shepreth. Sardaka / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Read the original

The reporting lives at BBC News. Our summary is checked against it, and we link it on every story.

Read it on BBC News

Four capybara pups were born overnight on October 15 to Pepita at Shepreth Wildlife Park in Cambridgeshire. BBC News reported the births on October 23, 2026.

Litters are typically four to eight, so this one sits at the small end of the usual range. The park said that once the pups' sexes are known, the public will help name them. Youngsters in the Shepreth capybara family are traditionally given names drawn from Latin American foods. Those names are not chosen yet.

This is a separate birth from the eight pups reported the same month at Curraghs Wildlife Park on the Isle of Man. The parks, the dates, and the numbers are different.

For the classroom

BBC News reported on October 23, 2026, that four capybara pups were born at Shepreth Wildlife Park in Cambridgeshire. They arrived during the night on October 15. Their mother is Pepita. Capybaras are from South America, they are the world's largest rodent, and they can grow to about 1.3 metres. A litter is usually four to eight pups, so four is a typical size. The park said that once it knows whether the pups are male or female, it will ask the public to help name them. Young capybaras at Shepreth are traditionally given names inspired by Latin American foods. The names have not been chosen yet.