Giant rodents annoy Argentine upscale neighbourhood

Groups of capybara, a giant South American rodent species, have been encroaching into an upscale suburb of Argentina's capital Buenos Aires.

The increasingly confident animals can be seen wandering through streets and gardens in the Nordelta district.

But resident Gabriel Iglesias said the area's relationship with the capybara had soured from "friendly" to "complicated".

Nordelta was built in 2000 in the wetlands of the Lujan River delta, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

Since 2019, residents have reported incidents related to the expansion of the capybara population, including road accidents and attacks on pets.

The capybara is an amphibious herbivorous rodent native to South America, weighing around 55 kilograms (120 pounds) and exceeding one meter (three feet) in height.

Sebastian Di Martino, a conservation director at the Rewilding Argentina Foundation, said the rodents were being driven into urban areas by the degradation of their wetland habitats.

In 2020, fires devasted more than 300,000 hectares of wetlands in the Parana River delta.

Di Martino added there were also fewer predators to keep the capybara population in check.