australian media: capybara becomes a "stress relief animal" for young asians
2024-09-19
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source: cankaoxiaoxi.com
reference news reported on september 18after following them online for years, li jing finally met her spirit animal, a capybara, at sydney's taronga zoo.
she said: "i fell in love with capybaras at first sight after seeing a video of them online. at that time, they were bathing in a zoo in japan."
li jing, 31, who works in the pet industry, said she likes capybaras because they are "so cute, so quiet and so cool."
she said: "when i knew taronga zoo had them, i was so excited and went to see them immediately. only four people a day can interact with the capybaras. half an hour before the tickets went on sale, people were already lining up. luckily, we got in. i fed them bamboo and they were just as cute as in the video!"
this rodent is a herbivore found across much of south america, in wetlands and forests.
they are semi-aquatic animals that spend part of their time on land and part of their time in water.
in recent years, they have won worldwide love.
their rise to global stardom began in 2023, when a russian blogger released a song called "capybara" that went viral on tiktok, racking up millions of likes.
in parts of asia, the animal became popular several years ago.
li jing introduced that there are many cute animals, but capybara is special.
"they have a temperament that allows them to take everything in with a relaxed attitude ... they walk slowly, they eat slowly, they stand very still," she said. "they are also very friendly and get along well with other animals without getting into conflicts. a lot of people are feeling very anxious right now, and these qualities of capybaras can be very healing and a relief."
like li jing, many young people are increasingly using capybara-related content on social platforms as a form of self-expression.
the capybara emoji is widely used and translated into different languages.
gong qian, a popular culture researcher at curtin university in australia, said the "extremely volatile and fiercely competitive" environment in the post-covid-19 era was one of the reasons why the animal was so popular among young people in asia.
dr gong qian said: "capybaras seem to be particularly favoured because of their temperament - emotional stability and peaceful attitude."
