Knowing the "Marine Cow" 🌊🐄, Manatee a Venezuelan species in danger of extinction 📸

Good day Steemers!

I hope you are well! Today I bring you a post about the day I was able to meet and even caress a Manatee, A beautiful animal that inhabits some areas of the country, but unfortunately is in danger of extinction. Without further ado, let`s star!

About 2 weeks ago, while I was at the Bararida Zoo and Botanical Park, in my preparation as University Park Ranger, I had a small talk in the Manatee section. At the end of the talk, I decided to take the opportunity to present this nice animal that lives in Venezuelan waters.

The Bararida Zoological and Botanical Park, is an icon of the reproduction program for Manatee conservation purposes. It has a large area where they keep animals, in fact, they currently have 5 copies of these curious animals

The surroundings of the manatee area are replete with informative posters about the animal.

Already inside the area, we found a water full of the animal's food. It looks greenish, but this is due to the aquatic plants found in the background. The area is divided into several segments, with the purpose of not grouping males with females. In the first area, there are two adolescent manatees, in the second one there is a young female, and in the third are the manatees Chicho and Fernanda, who were the first to arrive at the park, together with their baby Orinoko.

Of all the manatees, Chicho is the only one that does not fear humans, since they practically brought it to the park since it was very small. Therefore, when approaching the edge of the tank, it approaches and even allows itself to be caressed.

For their part, Fernanda and Orinoko are quite shy, and they always swim together away from the edges.

Unfortunately these beautiful animals are in danger of extinction, mainly due to the destruction of their habitat, the indiscriminate hunting for their meat, fat, bones and leather, and for the propellers of the motor boats that hurt or kill these animals.

A curious fact is that it is said that the meat of this animal has the taste of four different types of animals. It is said that it tastes like a cow, in fact it is also called the sea cow, it tastes like a pig, the face of this animal is similar to a pig; It tastes like fish because it is an aquatic animal and tastes like chicken because of its white flesh similar to that of the bird.

Name

Manatee (in the Caribbean indigenous language, means with mammals), marine cow, Caribbean Manatee.

Scientific Name:

Trichechus manatus. The subspecies present in Venezuela is Trichechus manatus manatus

Characteristics

It is a corpulent mermaid that measures about three meters and weighs between 500 and 600 kg. It has a grayish body with pink interstices, with a rounded tail in the shape of a spatula. They have an upper lip that is divided, which they use to feed themselves. These mammals have a life expectancy that can reach 60 years, but usually their longevity does not exceed 25 years

Feeding

It is herbivore and consumes between 15 and 20% of its weight each day. They eat about 60 different types of plants, such as mangrove leaves or algae. In the zoo they are fed mainly with lettuce and some fruits such as banana.

Reproduction

The female gives birth to a young every 2 to years. The breeding is born with an approximate size of 90-120cm, with an average weight between 30-40kg; This depends on his mother, who breastfeeds and cares for a period of time of at least two years.

Distribution in Venezuela

There are populations in Lake Maracaibo, in the middle, lower Orinoco River and in the delta, in Turuépano and Caño La Brea, Sucre State.

• All photos are own, taken with a Sony Cybershot camera 14.1 megapixels

• Photographer: Jorge C.

• This post is a translation from Spanish of a post of my property. The link of this post you can get it by clicking here