A corujas, an owl looks out from a burrow in a bunker on the ninth hole as practice continues for the men's golf event . Photo / AP
Forget the negative publicity; golfers from around the world are lapping up the sport's Olympic return in Rio - even if they're sharing the course with some strange and potentially-dangerous wildlife.
Most of the men's field has touched down in Brazil, including New Zealand duo Danny Lee and Ryan Fox.
Built on a nature reserve on the coast of western Rio, the course is home a vast array of wildlife. Australia captain Ian Baker-Finch has already eye-balled plenty of animals including the capybara, the world's largest rodent that can grow to more than 60cm and 20kg.
"There's gators and owls and all various sorts of things going on, everyone's very impressed with the whole environment out there," Baker-Finch said. "The capybara ... that bloody thing is huge. Have you seen it? It's like a six-month old pig.
"It's quite a big animal and when they said it's a rodent, I couldn't believe it. It's like a cross between a wombat and a large dog.
