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Hutias: Capromyidae

Behavior And Reproduction

While very shy towards humans, hutias are usually extremely social with each other. They engage in various activities as a group, including foraging for food and grooming. They generally live in social groups and do not seem to be territorial.

Some hutias are terrestrial, meaning they live mainly on the ground, while other species of hutia are primarily arboreal, meaning they live mostly in treetops. Most species are diurnal, meaning they are mostly active during the day. Brown's hutia is nocturnal, meaning it is most active at night.

Hutias breed year-round and have one to three litters of babies a year. Females have a gestation period, the length of time they carry their young in the womb, of 110 to 150 days. Females have one to six babies per litter with an average litter size of one or two. The mothers nurse their young until they are about five months old, and the young are able to reproduce at ten months. The average lifespan is eight to eleven years.

BACK FROM THE DEAD

The Bahamian hutia was once common throughout the Bahamas until the first European settlers arrived in the 1600s. Their numbers then started to drop due to hunting and destruction of its habitat and it was believed extinct by the 1800s. In 1966, however, a survey expedition discovered hundreds of Bahamian hutias living on the small remote uninhabited island of East Plana Cay. The mammal became a protected species in 1968 and by the start of the twenty-first century, numbered about 10,000. It has been introduced to several nearby small, uninhabited islands where it is thriving. It is listed by IUCN as Vulnerable due to its limited geographic range.

Additional topics

Animal Life ResourceMammalsHutias: Capromyidae - Physical Characteristics, Behavior And Reproduction, Hutias And People, Cuban Hutia (capromys Pilorides): Species Account - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET, CONSERVATION STATUS