Manatees

About Manatees:

• Manatees are large aquatic mammals, and sometimes they’re referred to as “sea cows.”
• They belong to a group of animals called Sirenia. This group also contains dugongs.
• Dugongs and manatees are very similar in appearance and behaviour, but there is one key difference, their tails.
  • Manatees have paddle-shaped tails, and dugongs have fluked tails, giving it a whale-like appearance.
• Habitat: Manatees inhabit shallow, marshy coastal areas and rivers.
• There are three species, or types, of manatee.
  • The Amazonian manatee lives in the Amazon River and in fresh water in South America. This species is only found in freshwater.
  • The African manatee lives in tropical West Africa.
  • The Caribbean manatee is found in Florida and the West Indies.
• Features:
  • Adult manatees may reach a length of 15 feet (4.6 metres) and a weight of 1,660 kilograms. 
  • Females tend to be larger and heavier than males.
  • Dull grey, blackish, or brown in colour, all three manatee species have stout tapered bodies ending in a flat rounded tailused for forward propulsion. 
  • The forelimbs are modified into flippers; there are no hind limbs.
  • In order to breathe, they must swim to the water’s surface for air. 
  • Lifespan: 50 to 60 years
  • They are herbivores. They spend up to eight hours a day grazing and can consume 4 to 9 percent of their body weight in aquatic vegetation daily.
  • Apart from mothers and their young, or males following a receptive female, manatees are generally solitary animals.
• Conservation Status: All three manatee species are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.