Capybara and Caiman

Capybara and caiman are the signature mammals and reptiles of the Iberá wetlands, and both can be observed at extraordinary close range. Capybara — barrel-shaped, semi-aquatic rodents that can weigh 65 kilograms — live in family groups along every bank and floating island in the lagoon system. They have become so accustomed to boat traffic that they barely react to approaching visitors.

Yacare caimans bask in the sun on mud banks and floating vegetation throughout the wetlands. The species can reach up to three metres in length, and their population here is one of the largest remaining in South America. Guided boat tours bring you within a few metres of basking adults; their stillness makes them easy to photograph but harder to read — they can move very quickly when they want to. A separate species, the broad-snouted caiman, is also present and usually found in shallower water among the floating islands.

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The Iberá wetlands support one of the densest concentrations of yacare caimans in the world — estimates run to 250,000 individuals in the provincial reserve alone. They are so numerous that local farmers once lobbied the government to allow controlled hunting, arguing the animals were depleting fish stocks. Conservation won that argument, and the caiman population today is considered a keystone species maintaining the health of the wetland ecosystem.

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