The Big Bend National Park in Texas is a place of many surprises. Along its southern-most border, where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the Rio Grande, a myriad of plant and animal, bird and fish species can be found, including some that are threatened or endangered. But there is one species doing especially well, and although it may be adorable, it is not welcome. Nutria were brought to this country for use in the fur trade, and abandoned to the wild when fashion taste changed. Today, they are a ravenous invasive species, chomping away at vegetation, destroying habitat and further stressing threatened and endangered native species. What to do with this new neighbor is becoming a nation-wide challenge.

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