"He passed away peacefully in his sleep," says the zoo.

If you've ever stopped by the Tropical Discovery area at the Denver Zoo, then it's likely you ran into some pretty long faces. Rodrigo, the zoo's capybara, was a resident of Tropical Discovery since 2011 when he transferred here from the Buffalo Zoo and became a favorite stop among guests.

Sadly, the Denver Zoo reported on Thursday that Rodgrio has died.

We are sorry to announce the passing of Rodrigo, our beloved capybara. Rodrigo’s keepers had to earn his trust when he joined us in 2011. By the time he passed, he’d let keepers scratch his back. At 10 years old, Rodrigo was at the upper end of the species’ life expectancy. pic.twitter.com/tFssdvstgL

— Denver Zoo (@DenverZoo) July 30, 2020

In a Facebook post, the zoo said that the beloved cabybara had a special bond with their resident howler monkey, Rosie.

"He’ll be deeply missed by his keepers, and also Rosie the howler monkey, with whom he had a special bond. We’d often see her coming down to groom him, and in return, Rodrigo would puff up his hair and close his eyes and fall asleep," wrote the Denver Zoo.

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