[Animals] The “revolution” of the capybaras renews the debate on the protection of wetlands in Argentina

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The subject made the front page news without anyone waiting for it. The publication in the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación of what has been called an “invasion” of capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in Nordelta, an exclusive neighborhood born in 1999 thanks to the real estate transformation of an area that was a wetland in front of the delta from the Parana River, the event quickly went viral.

The image of Oreo, a mini schnauzer dog injured by a specimen of the largest rodent on the planet, gained a privileged place on television screens and cell phones, and social networks became the scene of multiple debates where environmental issues, public health, treatment of animals and even social justice were mixed.

In a matter of hours, the news became a trending topic on Twitter and while reporters from all the news channels were looking for testimonies in the place, located 30 kilometers from the center of the Argentine capital, a veritable avalanche of jokes and memes was unleashed that focused on the high purchasing power of the inhabitants of the housing complex. Suddenly, the po[CENSORED]r imagination turned the capybaras (known as capybaras, ronsocos or chigüiros in other countries of the continent) into unusual representatives of the less favored sectors, or directly into an authentic revolutionary army whose intention would be to reconquer their territory and expel those who They would have usurped their natural habitat.

As is often the case with these types of events, some truth lies behind the initial shock. The capybaras, indeed, belong to the native fauna of that region. "The current po[CENSORED]tions were already in place when the area was natural wetlands," confirms María José Corriale, a doctor in Biological Sciences specializing in ecology and management of both this species and nutria (Myocastor coipus), and adds: " Now, they are simply recovering their po[CENSORED]tion level ”.

A group of capybaras feed on the plants that grow in the bed of a house in Nordelta. Photo: Nordelta Neighborhood Association.
A group of capybaras feed on the plants that grow in the bed of a house in Nordelta. Photo: Nordelta Neighborhood Association.
Widely distributed in much of South America, the species remains in a good state of conservation and does not belong to any risk category. Neither in Argentina. The largest number of individuals is found in the Iberá estuaries (Corrientes province), but they can also be observed in the north of the Gran Chaco, the low areas that surround the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, and in Misiones, in the extreme northeast from the country. "Until a few years ago, the Delta area was established as the southern limit of its presence, but now they are also found in various parts of the interior of the province of Buenos Aires," underlines Corriale, a researcher at the Higher Council for Scientific and Technical Research ( CONICET).

 

Link: https://elcomercio.pe/tecnologia/ecologia/la-revolucion-de-los-carpinchos-renueva-el-debate-sobre-la-proteccion-de-los-humedales-en-argentina-noticia/