Crocodiles and capybaras have overtaken the Rio Olympics golf course
The 2016 Summer Olympics officially start Friday, but now Rio can add one more entry to its growing list of problems. Luckily, this one is kinda cute.
According to the Golf Channel, the golf course for the games has become a popular hangout spot for some of Brazil's wildlife. So far they've spotted three-toed sloths, monkeys, boa constrictors, ground-nesting owls, caimans (a smaller relative of the crocodile), and capybaras chilling on the Olympic venue.
When the course was built last year, naturalists were worried about the effect that encroaching on the nearby Marapendi nature reserve would have on the animals.
Capybaras, which are the largest rodents in the world and can weigh up to 150 pounds, are among the biggest problems for golfers since they feed on the greens. "They chew down on the grass at night," Mark Johnson, the director of international agronomy for the PGA Tour, explained to the National Post. "There are about 30 to 40 of them inside the course perimeter, but they live here and we play golf here, we co-exist."
The owls are another potential problem, as they create burrows in the ground which could totally screw up golfer's carefully planned shot. Meanwhile, the caimans like to hang out around holes two, three, five, and nine.
The Brazilian newspaper Folha De Sao Paulo, claims that the IOC has made plans for a team of five or more biologists to move the caimans during the event, according to People.
The Rio Olympics are gonna be wild.