Capybara crisis in a luxury suburb

A group of capybaras grazing near a tennis court in Nordelta, a gated community north of Buenos Aires. — Anita Pouchard Serra/The New York Times

LUCIANO Sampietro lifted a metre-long aluminum pipe to his lips and blew, sending a blow dart laced with sedatives, muscle relaxers and painkillers toward the world’s largest rodent, lounging near an artificial pond.

The veterinarian’s target, a roughly 50kg alpha male capybara, was hit in the hind leg.