About the size of a rabbit, it lives in burrows in forests or shrubland, emerging at night to feed on leaves, fruit, and other plant matter.

[2] Colonist hutias were introduced into isolated parts of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park in 1973 as a conservation measure.

It can climb trees but mostly forages on or close to the ground, feeding on leaves, shoots, fruit, nuts and bark and occasionally insects or small lizards.

They are able to eat solid food after a few days and may stay as a family group for up to two years, by which time they are sexually mature.

Its population, though small, is believed to be steady, but it could be threatened by adverse conditions, such as a hurricane, or by the arrival on the islands of predators, such as feral cats.