Capybaras are native to most of South America, especially regions with lots of water and thick vegetation.

Native range (short answer)

  • Countries: Found naturally in Panama (just south of it), Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, northeast Argentina, Uruguay, and across almost all of South America except Chile.
  • Region type: Especially common around the Amazon Basin and large wetland systems like the Pantanal and other river floodplains.

What their home habitat is like

  • Semiaquatic zones: Rivers, lakes, ponds, marshes, swamps, and flooded savannas where they can swim and hide in water.
  • Landscape: Savannas, grasslands, tropical rainforests, and wetlands with dense plants right next to water.
  • Climate: Warm tropical and subtropical areas with plenty of freshwater; they struggle without regular access to water to cool off.

Native vs introduced

  • Native: South America is their original, natural range.
  • Introduced: Small wild populations now exist in places like Florida in the United States, where they were brought by people and adapted well to wetlands there.

If you see a capybara in North America, Europe, or Asia, it’s almost certainly introduced or kept as an exotic pet, not native to that region.

TL;DR: Capybaras are native to wet, warm habitats across most of South America, especially near rivers, swamps, and flooded grasslands.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.