AH Challenge: Capybaras an invasive species

MrP

Banned
In the past half-millennium, a number of animal and plant species have been introduced either deliberately (rabbits, cane toads, kudzu) or unwittingly (rats, green crabs) in biotopes where they proliferated and became pests.

This challenge is about adding capybaras to the list. By whatever plausible means, find a way for this rodent to be introduced outside of its native South America and proliferate to the point where it begins to displace local competitors.

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East Anglia seems an ideal place for its invasion.
The more destructive coypu wreaked havoc when it escaped so perhaps POD is that it's decided to farm it for meat also.
Then it escapes and voila
 
I think the bigger problem with this challenge is that for capybara to be farmed (which I believe they could, relatively easily), there would have to be some kind of change of the taboo over eating rodents (rabbits technically aren't rodents, but they're similar, so it may not be a big deal) to make this viable. I know the Andeans used to eat guinea pigs, but that's a bit different from the English doing it. That isn't to say it's impossible.

Maybe some eccentric, reptile-loving Richard Branson type starts a crocodile farm in the UK and has it double as a zoo? Maybe it balloons into a "little Amazon" type deal with a variety of tropical South American wildlife like a black jaguar (Beast of Bodmin was in the back of my mind writing this) and capybara? Some of the latter escape and get into local waterways and viola, you have an ecological pain in the ass. The only European animal I can really think of that would hunt capybara are wolves, and there are none (?) of those even left in the wild in the British Isles, so there are no real hunters. Plus they're pretty big, so not a lot of competitors for their niche that can outmuscle them.

EDIT: those baby capybara are way too cute. I think my Y chromosome just evaporated.
 
I doubt capybaras would be invasive most places, even if they were released.

Things like rats are small generalists, and are still most obviously invasive where the ecosystem is fragile, and/or didn't have land mammals (lots of islands, e.g.).

Rats may have been added to the North American ecosystem - but they haven't run out of control and displaced other species.

Things like cane toads are toxic, and kudzu lacks its natural predators, so they're 'easy' to be invasive and a problem.


So... It would likely have to be in oceania (New Zealand might be a possibility, certainly many Pacific islands would be possible). Australia, otherwise home to LOTS of invasive species, probably isn't a possibility here, because capybaras are aquatic and crocodiles could keep them under control.
 
I think the bigger problem with this challenge is that for capybara to be farmed (which I believe they could, relatively easily), there would have to be some kind of change of the taboo over eating rodents (rabbits technically aren't rodents, but they're similar, so it may not be a big deal) to make this viable.

They actually are quite easily farmed. In Brazil and Venezuela there are farmers who have permission to domesticate them (here some do for touristic reasons, others for the meat). Regarding the taboo, well, capybaras are so big that no one really thinks about them as "rats". Personally I don't like it, I consider it too fat (even oily) but many people (mainly near the borders with Uruguay and Argentina) consider it a special meal.
 
They actually are quite easily farmed. In Brazil and Venezuela there are farmers who have permission to domesticate them (here some do for touristic reasons, others for the meat). Regarding the taboo, well, capybaras are so big that no one really thinks about them as "rats". Personally I don't like it, I consider it too fat (even oily) but many people (mainly near the borders with Uruguay and Argentina) consider it a special meal.

I imagine they would be easily farmed, they seem pretty docile and low-maintenance. Interesting about them being actively eaten in Brazil and Venezuela. I assume though in Brazil it is largely in areas unsuitable for cattle etc. though, so maybe the "cheap, local source of meat" positives outweigh the cultural negatives enough for people to have just got over it.

For it to be an invasive species anyway it has to be somewhere 'exotic' for the capybara, where it is more likely that people would raise their eyebrows at the idea of eating one. But thanks for that info, it's always interesting to learn little things like that about life in other regions of the world.
 

MrP

Banned
I'm curious about their adaptability to the US Southeast. Perhaps they're introduced in the mid-19th century as a cheap source of protein for the slaves, and some are released or escape into the wild in the following years? They seem well-suited to the climate and environment.
 
I assume though in Brazil it is largely in areas unsuitable for cattle etc. though, so maybe the "cheap, local source of meat" positives outweigh the cultural negatives enough for people to have just got over it.

There is no cultural negatives, it is just a type of meat that is not common. What I will say is not a scientific study just my thinks about, at least here in the south we have four types of meat that are really common, cattle, pig, fish and chicken, some types that are not so common goat, sheep, quail, ostrich and thers, meat that is uncommon but not taboo like rabbit, capybara, wild boar, armadillo and others, then we have the taboo, rat, monkey, dog, horse, cat...

I could say too that Capybara and armadillo are largely considered meats from hunt, so in areas where hunting is still common you can see more people eating those animals.
 
I imagine they would be easily farmed, they seem pretty docile and low-maintenance. Interesting about them being actively eaten in Brazil and Venezuela. I assume though in Brazil it is largely in areas unsuitable for cattle etc. though, so maybe the "cheap, local source of meat" positives outweigh the cultural negatives enough for people to have just got over it.

Actually here in the South they are more commonly eaten in traditional livestock raising areas (the pampas near the borders with Uruguay and Argentina). People there don't eat them because they are cheap, but because they are considered a special "game meat".
 
How about someone gets the idea to use there fur as a cheep substitute for beaver and otter fur?

Ships them to places like Fl,LA,Mo,Mn. where farms are set up for them and they get lose
 
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