Capybaras are highly social, semiaquatic rodents of South America whose welfare depends on access to water, social companionship, and the wetland habitats that are increasingly threatened by agricultural expansion.
Capybaras kept as pets without proper water access, social companions, or space suffer significant welfare deficits. They are not well-suited as solitary pets - social isolation causes chronic stress. Commercial farming must ensure adequate space, water immersion opportunities, and social housing. In the wild, wetland drainage eliminates the habitats capybaras need, causing habitat loss at landscape scale. Urban expansion in Brazil has led to capybara populations living in city parks and golf courses, exposing them to traffic, disease, and human-wildlife conflict.