Capybaras dig the ponds, clear the paths, and fertilize the banks that hundreds of other wetland species depend on. When capybaras disappear, so does the habitat around them. We work to make sure neither one does.
Capybaras are what biologists call ecosystem engineers: their grazing trails, wallows, and burrows reshape wetlands in ways that create habitat for fish, birds, amphibians, and insects that couldn't survive there otherwise.
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None of these threats are exotic or rare — they're the same slow, familiar pressures facing wetlands everywhere. That's what makes them solvable.
Riverbank development and wetland drainage remove the slow-moving water and reed cover capybaras need to breed and hide from predators.
Viral popularity has driven demand for capybaras as pets, encouraging illegal capture despite the specialized wetland space they need to thrive.
Roads built through wetland corridors cut herds off from water and food, forcing crossings that are the leading cause of adult mortality in our study sites.
Replanting reed banks and reopening drained wetland channels alongside local landowners, at 14 sites and counting.
Working with regional wildlife agencies to get wetland corridors formally protected from drainage permits and road expansion.
Taking in capybaras seized from the illegal pet trade and preparing them, where possible, for release back into protected wetlands.
Running school and landowner programs that explain why capybara wetlands matter to the water quality and flood control everyone relies on.
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