LifespanMost manatees live 60 to 70 years
Quick facts
DietSeagrass
HabitatRivers and coastal waters
RangeOff the Caribbean sea and the gulf of Mexico
Larger-than-life personalities
Eva
DOB: 13 Apr 1991
Eva is the largest manatee in Amazon Flooded Forest. She weighs about 1,200kg! The mother of eight calves and grandmother of seven, she is the grande dame of the herd.
Pedro
DOB: 27 Jul 1979
Pedro is the oldest male in our collection. To tell him apart from the rest, look out for his long, lanky frame. He often nibbles the aquarists, as a way of asking for food.
Canola
DOB: 6 Aug 2014
Canola was hand-raised by our aquarists when she was not observed to suckle. Every three hours in her first three months, Canola was bottle-fed a special mixture of puppy formula and goat milk, infused with canola oil, hence her name.
The manatees
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High-fi and low-cal diet
Manatees spend 6–8 hours a day feeding on submerged and floating aquatic vegetation, which contain large amounts of roughage. Our manatees chomp on similarly high-fibre and low-calorie Chinese cabbage, banana leaves and elephant grass.
They are known as sea cows because they spend half of the day grazing on sea grass and aquatic plants. A manatee's daily food intake is typically 4–7% of its body weight. A 500kg manatee would eat 20–35kg of food in a day.
(In)digestion
It's not blubber that fills those barrel-shaped bodies, but an immense digestive system that includes up to 45 metres of intestines. Dedicated to digesting plant matter, this lengthy passageway extends digestion time and helps them absorb as much nutrients as possible. A single meal takes about a week to be fully digested!
Together, we protect wildlife
Abandoned calves
Whenever a baby is born, our aquarists keep a close watch for 48 hours to ensure it is suckling well. Sadly, scientists are seeing more orphaned calves in the wild. Separated from their mothers by human disturbance, these calves have been found stranded on coasts and left to fend for themselves.
The IUCN Status
VU
Vulnerable
At high risk of extinction in the wild
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.
DD
Data Deficient
Unknown risk of extinction
LC
Least Concern
At relatively low risk of extinction
NT
Near Threatened
Likely to become vulnerable in the near future
VU
Vulnerable
At high risk of extinction in the wild
EN
Endangered
At very high risk of extinction in the wild
CR
Critically Endangered
At extremely high risk of extinction in the wild
EW
Extinct in the Wild
Survives only in captivity
EX
Extinct
No surviving individuals in the wild or in captivity
