West Indian Manatee
Facts about this animal
Did you know?
that manatees once were thought by sailors to be mermaids, hence the scientific name "Sirenia" for the zoological order unifying manatees and dugongs. The word "Sirenia" came from the word "siren." "Sirens" are legendary Greek sea beauties that lured sailors in to the sea. It is thought that old-time mermaid sightings were actually sirenians rather than mythical half women, half fish.
|Name (Scientific)||Trichechus manatus|
|Name (English)||West Indian Manatee|
|Name (French)||Lamantin d'Amérique du nord|
|Name (German)||Westindisches Manatee|
|Name (Spanish)||Lamantino norteamericano|
|CITES Status||Appendix I|
|CMS Status||Appendix I and II (populations between Honduras and Panama)|
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|Range||Florida Manatee: Around Florida (Keys) and gulf of Mexico, during hot summers even up to Rhode Island
Antillean Manatee: throughout the Caribbean, along the eastern coast of Central America and the northern coast of South America.
|Habitat||Shallow coastal areas, shallow rivers, estuaries, and lakes|
|Wild population||Unknown, but decreasing (Red List IUCN 2011)|
|Zoo population||80 reported to ISIS (2007)|
In the Zoo
How this animal should be transported
For air transport, Container Note 55 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.
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Why do zoos keep this animal
Manatees are of major educational interest, as they are the most aquatic herbivore mammals. They are also good ambassador species for promoting the conservation of estuaries, coastal mangrove swamps, and freshwater habitats.
The West Indian manatee is a endangered species listed in Appendix I of CITES. Zoo associations in two major regions therefore undertake efforts to maintain selfsustaining ex situ populations through coordinated breeding programmes.