A New Arrival at Łódź Zoo – Meet the Lowland Paca!

The community of animals at the Orientarium ZOO Łódź just keeps growing! From the Berlin Zoo, a three-month-old male lowland paca – a large rodent native to South America – has recently arrived in Łódź.

The lowland paca is a nocturnal loner that can weigh over 10 kilograms. While it may look slow and clumsy on land, in the water it swims with remarkable agility, often using rivers and ponds as a safe hiding place. In the wild, it digs burrows with several exits – one of which almost always leads straight to the water, allowing for a quick escape when danger is near.

One of the paca’s most distinctive features is the rows of white spots along its sides, resembling a dotted line. These markings aren’t just decorative – they also help camouflage the animal among the dense vegetation of tropical forests. Pacas communicate with each other through grunts and by stamping their hind feet on the ground, a behavior that serves as a warning signal when stressed.

Their diet consists mostly of fruits, leaves, and other plant parts. In their natural environment, pacas play a vital role in the ecosystem as seed dispersers – often carrying fruits far from where they were found.

You can now see the new arrival in the South America Pavilion. It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet a species rarely seen in European zoos!