Capybara Warband, Inspired by the Taliban, Takes Control of Rich Argentinian Neighborhood

Capybaras in Argentina are reclaiming their ancestral homeland, no doubt inspired by the recent success of the Taliban. Locally known as “carpinchos,” the giant rodents have occupied a rich gated neighborhood called Nordelta, and are currently gathering support from the Argentinian people on social networks by launching unsuspected assaults on bikers and decadent rich people.

The capybara takeover follows a recent worldwide trend of wild animals losing all respect for human space.

The Guardian:

Nordelta is Argentina’s most well-known gated community: an enclave of spacious homes for the rich amid a dreamy landscape of lakes and streams north of Buenos Aires.

But environmentalists question its very existence because it is built on the wetlands of the Paraná, the second most important river in South America after the Amazon.

Now, however, nature is fighting back against Nordelta’s well-heeled residents.

In recent weeks, the community has been invaded by capybaras, who 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.

Some Nordelta residents are reported to have responded by bringing out their hunting rifles, but many other Argentinians have taken to social media to defend the rodents – known locally as carpinchos.

In politically polarized Argentina, progressive Peronists see Nordelta as the enclave of an upper class eager to exclude common people – and with tongue only partly in cheek, some have portrayed the capybaras as a rodent vanguard of the class struggle.

Adult capybaras can grow up to one metre (3.2ft) in length, stand over 60cm (24in) tall and can weigh up to 60 kilos (132lb). They are naturally gregarious and live in groups of between 10 and 20 individuals.

Prominent ecologist Enrique Viale said it was a mistake to frame the rodent influx as an invasion. “It’s the other way round: Nordelta invaded the ecosystem of the carpinchos,” said Viale, who has been campaigning with many others for 10 years now for congress to pass a law to defend the wetlands from development.

Carpinchos are a noble, peaceful people.

You can reason with them.

They’re way more popular than the rich people from the gated community.

Local newspapers are saying that the Japanese embassy in Argentina defended the carpinchos.

The rodents have gained the support of most of the local dog population as well.

In other provinces, it is normal for people to interact with these animals.