Where Do Capybaras Live? Wetlands of South America

Capybara range: which countries?

The capybara is found in every mainland South American country except Chile. Its range covers Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana in the north, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia east of the Andes, all of Brazil’s major river basins, and Paraguay, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina in the south. In Argentina it reaches roughly the latitude of Buenos Aires.

The Andes form the western limit. Capybaras are lowland animals and are rarely seen above about 1,500 m (4,900 ft), so the high mountains and the dry Pacific coast keep them out of Chile and most of western Peru and Ecuador.

A close relative, the lesser capybara (Hydrochoerus isthmius), lives west and north of this range, in eastern Panama, northwestern Colombia and western Venezuela. It is smaller and is now usually treated as a separate species.

What kind of habitat do capybaras need?

Capybaras are semi-aquatic, and water shapes every part of their lives. They use it to cool off in the heat, to hide from predators, and even to mate. A good capybara home has three parts:

• Permanent water, such as a river, lake, pond, marsh or reservoir
• Grassland or water meadows to graze
• Dry ground with some cover for resting and giving birth

Typical habitats include riverbanks, lake shores, marshes and swamps, seasonally flooded savannas and the gallery forests that line rivers through open country. They also live along rivers in the Amazon rainforest, although they are usually most numerous where open grass meets water. A group’s home range is often only about 5–16 hectares (12–40 acres), and capybaras rarely wander far: in one study, most marked animals were found again within about a kilometer (just over half a mile) of the same spot two years later.

The great capybara wetlands

Some of the best places to see wild capybaras are South America’s huge seasonal wetlands.

In these wetlands, capybaras share the landscape with caimans, wading birds and big predators such as the jaguar, whose range is described in where do jaguars live?. In the dry season, as the floods recede, capybaras crowd around the remaining pools, sometimes in herds of 50–100 animals.

Capybaras on farms and in cities

Capybaras have adapted well to people. Cattle ranches with ponds and pastures offer exactly what they need, and in some regions capybaras are more common on ranches than in untouched habitat. They also live in city parks, along urban rivers and lakes, and on golf courses in several South American cities, including parts of São Paulo state in Brazil.

The best-known urban capybaras live in Nordelta, a gated community built on wetlands north of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2021, a growing herd grazing on lawns and crossing streets there made international news. The houses had been built on wetland that capybaras already used, so in a sense it was people who had moved into the capybaras’ home.

Are there capybaras in Florida?

Capybaras are not native to North America, but escaped or released animals turn up from time to time, especially in Florida. Sightings have been reported mainly from the north-central part of the state, and wildlife officials list the capybara as a nonnative species. Whether a self-sustaining breeding population exists in the wild has not been clearly confirmed, and it is likely to be very small if it exists at all. Single capybaras have also been seen in other states, including California.

These sightings have an interesting twist. During the Ice Age, extinct relatives of the capybara lived in what is now the southern United States, including Florida and California, before disappearing around the end of the last ice age.

Capybaras around the world in zoos

Outside the Americas, capybaras live only in zoos and wildlife parks. They are kept in many European and North American zoos, and in Japan several zoos give them warm baths in winter. In the wild, however, the capybara remains a South American animal, tied to the rivers and wetlands where it evolved.

How capybaras spend a day in their habitat

A typical capybara day reflects its need for water. The herd rests on dry land in the morning, moves into the water or mud to stay cool through the hottest hours, and grazes on nearby grassland from late afternoon through the night. If danger appears, the whole group dashes back to the water, where capybaras can stay submerged for up to about five minutes.