{"id":29115,"date":"2023-06-07T15:51:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T13:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=77553"},"modified":"2023-06-07T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T14:35:41","slug":"manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows\/","title":{"rendered":"Manatee guide: where they live, what they eat and why they\u2019re known as \u2018sea cows\u2019."},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Debbie Graham\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 07 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

What is a manatee?<\/h2>\n
The manatee, also known as the \u2018sea cow\u2019, is a marine mammal that belongs to the group Sirenia, along with the very similar dugong<\/a><\/strong>. It is also distantly related to the elephant<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<h2>How may species of manatee are there?<\/h2>\n<p>There are three species of manatee: the West Indian manatee (<em>Trichechus manatus<\/em>), the African manatee (<i>Trichechus senegalensis<\/i>) and the Amazonian manatee (<i>Trichechus inunguis<\/i>).<\/p>\n<p>There are two subspecies of West Indian Manatee: the Florida manatee (<em>Trichechus manatus latirostris<\/em>), found mostly in US waters, and the Antillean or Caribbean manatee (<i>Trichechus manatus manatus<\/i>), which occurs in waters from The Bahamas to Brazil.<\/p>\n<h2>What do manatees look like?<\/h2>\n<p style=\""font-weight:\">These aquatic herbivores are large, slow-moving, gentle creatures that spend much of their time grazing in river shallows \u2013 hence the alternative name of sea cow. They are chunky and round, with large snouts and paddle-shaped flippers, and have thick, wrinkly skin. You can tell a dugong from a manatee by the shape of the tail \u2013 the manatee has a paddle; the dugong has a fluke.<\/p>\n<h2>How big are manatees?<\/h2>\n<p>Manatees are usually up to 3m long and weigh around 450kg, though it depends on the species. The Amazon manatee is the smallest of the three, reaching up to 2.5m.<\/p>\n<h2>What do manatees eat?<\/h2>\n<p style=\""font-weight:\"><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/plant-facts\/water-plants\/eelgrass-guide\/"\">Eelgrass<\/a><\/strong> and other seagrasses. They consume an awful lot of it, helping to keep it short, which maintains a healthy habitat.<\/p>\n<h2>How do manatees breed?<\/h2>\n<p style=\""font-weight:\">Mating takes place in the water. When a female manatee goes into estrus (becomes fertile), this is detected by the males. The female is then pursued by a breeding herd of several males throughout her cycle, which can last up to three weeks. During this time, the female can mate with one or more males to become pregnant. She will give birth to a single calf and nurse it for at least a year.<\/p>\n<h2>Where do manatees live?<\/h2>\n<p style=\""font-weight:\">Florida manatees are usually found in the rivers, springs and inland waterways along the Florida coast. They are prevalent in the state, but travel across the Gulf of Mexico as far as Louisiana and up the Atlantic Coast to Georgia. West Indian manatees can be found in the Caribbean, Mexico, northeastern South America and Central America. West African manatees, rather predictably, live off the west coast of Africa. Amazonian manatees live in the Amazon and are the only species restricted to fresh water.<\/p>\n<h2>Are manatees under threat?<\/h2>\n<p style=\""font-weight:\">Yes. All three species are classed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. They are threatened by habitat loss, collision with boats, and pollution. In 2017, the <a href=\"\/\/www.fws.gov"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">US Fish and Wildlife Service<\/a> downlisted the West Indian manatee, including the Florida subspecies, from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s being done to help them?<\/h2>\n<p style=\""font-weight:\">In Florida, projects such as <a href=\"\/\/kingsbayrestorationproject.com"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">The King\u2019s Bay Restoration Project<\/a> and <a href=\"\/\/savecrystalriver.com"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">Save Crystal River project<\/a> are working to safeguard manatee habitat, removing blue-green algae and replanting the eelgrass on which these herbivores depend. Strict speed limits for motorboats have been introduced in the King\u2019s Bay Area to reduce the number of accidents. There are also many projects and organisations rehabilitating manatees that have been injured.<\/p>\n<hr\/><p style=\""font-weight:\">Main image: A manatee swims just below the surface in Crystal River, Florida. \u00a9 Getty Images<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Debbie Graham Published: Wednesday, 07 June 2023 at 12:00 am What is a manatee? The manatee, also known as the \u2018sea cow\u2019, is a marine mammal that belongs to the group Sirenia, along with the very similar dugong. It is also distantly related to the elephant. How may species of manatee are there? There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":29116,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/06\/manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows.jpg",2121,1414,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/06\/manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/06\/manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/06\/manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/06\/manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/06\/manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/06\/manatee-guide-where-they-live-what-they-eat-and-why-theyre-known-as-sea-cows-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Debbie Graham Published: Wednesday, 07 June 2023 at 12:00 am What is a manatee? The manatee, also known as the \u2018sea cow\u2019, is a marine mammal that belongs to the group Sirenia, along with the very similar dugong. It is also distantly related to the elephant. How may species of manatee are there? There…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/29115"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}