Nordelta is Argentina’s most well-known gated community. It is an enclave for the rich, with spacious homes in the middle of well-kept properties set among a landscape of lakes and streams north of Buenos Aires.
However, much to the dismay of environmentalists, the community was built on the wetlands of the Paraná River, the second most important river in South America after the Amazon, reports The Guardian.
In recent weeks, the residents of Nordelta have been involved in a battle, of sorts, and no, not with environmentalists. Nature has been fighting back against Nordelta’s well-heeled residents.
For the past several weeks, the community has been invaded by capybaras, the world’s largest living rodent. Growing up to about 4 feet in length and 24 inches in height, and weighing close to 132 pounds, these animals are sociable and live in groups of between 10 and 20 individuals.
Members of the community have complained that the carpinchos (capybaras in Argentina) have destroyed manicured lawns, bitten dogs, and caused traffic accidents.
“They not only destroy gardens but their excrement has also become a problem,” one local man told the daily La Nación, complaining that local wildlife officials had prohibited residents from touching the large rodents.
A few local residents have apparently brought out their rifles, but many other Argentinians have taken to social media in defense of the rodents.
The whole problem with the community of Nordelta and their claims of being invaded by capybaras is that the rodents have not invaded the community at all. As Radio Perfil points out, “according to the specialist Adelmar Funk, he clarified that the capybaras did not appear in Nordelta, but returned.”
“In Nordelta it has to do with the fact that they created an ecosystem that favors the return of these species. Capybara usually have many young; when you realized that the population increased it is because you already have the problem on top of you,” he explained.
Like America, Argentina is politically polarized – with progressive Peronists seeing Nordelta as the enclave of an upper class eager to exclude common people. Some have even portrayed the capybaras as a rodent vanguard of the class struggle.
The wetlands of the Panana River delta
The Paraná River is considered the third largest river in the American Continent, after the Mississippi in the United States and the Amazon in Brazil.
The diverse wetlands of the Parana Delta lie in the La Plata Basin in Argentina. The delta is one of the largest coastal wetlands systems of Argentina, spreading over 320 kilometers and comprising a vast extension of more than 22.587 square kilometers.
The Paraná Delta is rich in biodiversity and natural resources and faces the pressures of urban growth, infrastructure development, large-scale livestock farming, and unsustainable agricultural practices, as well as the consequences of climate change.
.jpg){kind=link}
