- More than 1,000 capybaras, the largest rodent in the world, are now living in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s wealthy Nordelta gated community, which has a population of only 45,000 residents
- Members of the community are split about how to handle the wild animals, who are native to the land but have a rapidly growing population that’s causing problems
- As the debate continues, government officials have taken steps to begin an experimental sterilization program to help stop the population from growing
A debate is raging across Nordelta, a wealthy gated community of 45,000 residents in Buenos Aires, Argentina, about how to handle a growing population of capybaras in the luxury neighborhood.
Nordelta’s capybaras started as a unique but unproblematic part of the neighborhood. However, now that the rodent’s population in Nordelta has tripled over several years to 1,000 capybaras, the animals are causing issues.
While capybaras are native to the wetlands on which Nordelta was built, The New York Times reported that the animal’s population in the area exploded during the pandemic when people spent less time outdoors.
Now, community members want to do something to control the population, but are split on the best way to proceed. Despite some complaints, a plan is currently in place to temporarily sterilize a portion of the animals to see if that will help control the overall population.
Pablo Pefaure, a neighborhood representative, told the NYT that some residents see the animal as “dangerous” and “invasive.” He noted that there have been concerns about the threat the rodents, which can weigh up to 130 pounds, pose to pets and children, according to El País.
The creatures have also been known to feast on gardens and have been responsible for some traffic accidents, according to the NYT.
Pefaure told the outlet that he is nervous about leaving his smaller dog outside in the garden alone “because I don’t know what might happen.”
Argentina’s government has proposed a plan to perform vasectomies on some capybaras. However, before the plan took off, Nordelta began experimenting with a different method of sterilizing the creatures.
Described as a “contraceptive vaccination program” in an email sent to residents in February, a team is aiming to capture and treat 250 of the animals using a drug called Improvac. With two treatments, the capybaras should be sterile for at least a few months.
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In February, El País reported that “most” residents approved the plan. However, there are notable dissenters.
Veronica Esposito and Silvia Soto are two examples.
“Everyone says they eat the plants. Yes, they do. But the plants grow back,” Esposito told the NYT, noting that she has never had issues with her dog. “I don’t see the problem.”
Soto said that her group against sterilization has been “conquered” by the capybaras’ “lovability.”
“I believe their adorableness is a strategy of the species itself to survive,” she said.
Instead of sterilizing the creatures, she is pushing for alternative options and hoping to stop expanding the neighborhood to take away from the animals’ remaining natural habitat. Potential plans include the development of a nature reserve and the development of biological corridors.
“They say there is no space to make biological corridors, but there is space to continue building,” she said to El País in February, later telling the NYT, “I don’t understand how they can only think of vasectomy and sterilization.”
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