West Indian Manatee
(go back to The Animals)The West Indian Manatee, found mostly in Florida in the winter, as far west as Texas and as far north as Virginia in the winter, is also occasionally found in the coastal and inland waterways of Central America and along the northern coast in South America. Gentle and slow-moving, the manatee is completely herbivorous, eating aquatic plants. They graze for food along water bottoms coming up to breathe every three to five minutes. Female manatees are sexually mature at about five years of age and males are mature at around nine years of age. One calf is born every two to five years with gestation period lasting about a year. A calf may remain nursing with its mother for one to two years. Although the West Indian manatee has no natural enemy and can live 60 years or more, many manatees die human-related deaths from collisions with watercraft, ingestion of fish hooks, litter and monofilament line, and entanglement in crab trap lines. The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 protect the West Indian manatees in the US. Current conservation measures include research covering the biology, mortality, population, and distribution, behavior, and habitat of manatees, posting regulatory speed signs and levying of fines for excess speeds in designated areas, manatee education and public awareness programs, and public acquisition of critical habitat and creation of sanctuaries.
Manatee - Fast Facts
Type: MammalDiet: Herbivore
Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 60 years
Size: Average Adult Length, 10 ft (3 m)
Weight: 800 to 1200 lbs (363 to 544 kg)
Group name: Herd
Status: THREATENED
Buy an Eye and help save the Manatee.