Red-rumped Agouti

Agoutis are medium-sized rodents with slender bodies and long, thin legs. Their hind legs are significantly longer than their forelimbs, giving them extra jumping power. They have large eyes and small, round ears.

Red-rumped agoutis have coarse, glossy fur that is a greenish brown in color. As their name implies, their rumps have an orange-red coloration. They have a white stripe that runs down the center of their underbellies. The skin around their eyes and snout is bare. These agouti weigh between 6-13 lbs and can grow to be between 19-25 inches long. They have very small tails. Females are generally larger than males.

Red-rumped agoutis are native to South America. They are found in the central eastern part of South America, between Venezuela and Brazil. Other agouti species can be found throughout Central America and western regions of South America. They prefer to live in humid rainforests that are higher in elevation. They are ground dwellers and prefer areas that have lots of cover where they can hide.

Agoutis are omnivores. Generally, they feed on seeds, fruits, leaves, and roots they find along the forest floor. As they forage on the floor, they also find and eat small insects and grubs. Red-rumped agoutis are the only mammal in their region able to break open the husk on a brazil nut seed. These are important trees to the forest ecosystem, making agoutis incredibly important for the survival of this plant species.

Agouti also engage in caching behaviors, where they hide food to come back and eat later. Usually, they bury their food in the ground. This makes them extremely important seed dispersers, as all the nuts and seeds they forget are planted into the ground.

These agoutis are considered crepuscular (active during dawn and dusk), but they get most of their foraging time done in the early mornings. Red rumped agoutis live either alone or with a partner, and territories don’t overlap, unless the area is nutrient dense. Males will drive off other agoutis that enter their territory.

Red-rumped agoutis are monogamous. They will stay with one partner and provide security for each other. Males court their mates by spraying them with urine several times. They can breed twice a year, with a gestation time of 3-4 months. At 6 months, agouti offspring are mature and will leave their parents.

Red-Rumped agoutis are currently listed as Least Concerned on the IUCN Red List. Their population was last assessed in 2016 and found to be stable. They are protected by their wide distribution and range falling within protected areas.

• Agoutis are saltatorial, meaning they are adapted to jumping and leaping.
• Red-rumped agoutis are the only mammal in their range able to crack open Brazil nuts.
• Agoutis belong to the same superfamily as guinea pigs!

The Oakland Zoo is home to two red-rumped agoutis, Lauren and Cupid. Both Lauren and Cupid were born in 2016 and have been living with us since they were a year old. They are housed with our macaws and are most commonly seen hanging out underneath them on the ground. This is because macaws are notorious for dropping food! This mirrors their natural behaviors, where wild macaws sometimes have an entourage of animals waiting for them to drop food onto the forest floor. Lauren and Cupid are a little tough to tell apart, but Lauren is the larger and shyer of the two, while Cupid is smaller but more outgoing.