At the northern edge of the Pantanal, in one of the largest tropical wetlands on Earth, is a small pond that is home to an unusual family of rodents. They are not typical rats or squirrels; these semi-aquatic capybaras are the size of sheep! And in the middle of the dry season, this group has more than a dozen babies to raise and keep safe. It is a challenge because these gentle herbivores are on the menu of lots of land and water predators. They share their pond habitat with caimans, herons, bitterns and limpkins, and cake their skins with mud to protect against the sun. Apple snails consume decaying plants in the water, and produce fertile nutrients for the habitat. Dawn brings a symphony of sound to this paradise, and conservationist Andre Von Thuronyi runs Araras Ecolodge here, next to a cattle ranch, and enjoys observing the social system and habits of the capybara and also the howler monkeys. He runs a program to reintroduce macaws sold illegally by poachers to city dwellers.