Manatees to be returned to nature on Amazon river

Four manatees that have lived in semi-captivity and monitored for four years by the National Research Institute of the Amazon (Inpa), in Manacapuru, Amazonas, will be given back to nature on February 26. The specimens comprise three males and one female, aged 7 to 10, and will be released in the Piaguçu-Purus Sustainable Development Reserve, 70km off the municipality of Beruri, in the same state.

Another six manatees—four females and two males—are to be taken to the Inpa Water Park, in Manaus, to the same semi-captivity facilities. They are also expected to be able to swim in the rivers of the Amazon. The initiative is made possible through a partnership with the Friends of the Manatee Association (Ampa). The species, native to the Amazon, is threatened with extinction.

According to Ampa biologist Diogo Souza, today, 60 specimens are housed in the park's tanks and 11 in the semi-captivity area. The program aimed at returning the animals to nature initiated in 2009. At the time, four manatees were released directly, with no success—two of them died and the other two grew severely frail. This is why the semi-captivity phase was introduced, Diogo Souza says, in which animals are kept from two to three years.

“We call it semi-captivity because it's a lake, a natural environment, but it's a controlled lake. It's a 13-hectare fish farming tank for raising pirarucu and tambaqui. This lake reproduces all the conditions of the natural environment,” he explained.

According to Souza, most manatees are taken to Inpa still as babies. Many are captured by fishermen accidentally. They are dubbed “orphan babies,” because their mother was probably killed during hunting. Treatment lasts around five years until they are in condition to be taken to semi-captivity. After that, they are returned to nature permanently.

Souza believes that the four manatees to be released will adapt well to the natural environment. A belt equipped with a transmitter will be attached to their fins so that the animals can be monitored on a daily basis.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira