#NSTviral: Capybara spotted roaming busy Selayang road, sparking safety concerns

KUALA LUMPUR: An unattended capybara standing in the middle of a busy road in Selayang, as vehicles passed around it, has raised concerns over the animal's safety and its owner's responsibility.

A post shared by Threads user eijadd_ showed the capybara standing in the middle of the road while vehicles drove past it.

The post drew criticism of the animal's owner, with users questioning why it had been left unsupervised and allowed to roam in traffic despite wearing a tracker around its neck.

"To the owner, please keep your pet safe if you want to keep one. Do not let it roam around like this. What if it gets bitten by a dog or hit by a vehicle?" eijadd_ wrote.

Meanwhile, Threads user ejamthesedays expressed concern that the capybara could be hit by a vehicle.

"At first, it looks cute, but when it is left roaming freely without supervision like this, I'm worried it might get hit by a vehicle or something. It cannot think for itself. It has an owner, right?" the user wrote.

Another user, annosharkill, criticised the owner for failing to look after the animal despite having fitted it with a tracker.

"I'm so frustrated seeing an irresponsible owner who apparently knows enough to put a tracker on it.

"If someone takes it, how are they going to claim it back? They don't even know how to look after an animal," the user wrote.

One user said the concern was not that the capybara was disturbing anyone, but that it could come to harm if left to roam freely without supervision.

Other users also shared video clips in the comments showing the same capybara roaming around the area, suggesting that it had been spotted away from the road as well.