Frequently Asked Questions About The Alligator Hole River Manatees

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Question: Why are you releasing the manatees?
Answer: They have eaten almost all the vegetation in the river, so everyday food has to be placed into the river; this is costing a huge sum of money. They are being released to ease the expenses, and also to give them an opportunity to mate and produce offspring.

Question: Can they survive in the wild?
Answer: Yes, they can survive in the wild. They existed in the wild quite fine until they were accidentally caught in the nets of fishermen.

Question: What if they die?
Answer: That would not be good at all, as this would mean that we would be three manatees closer to the extinction of the Jamaican Manatee. Manatees face the threat of extinction if each cow produces less than two fertile offspring.

Question: Why not bring males in?
Answer: It would not make any sense to bring in males, because if they mated, the offspring would not survive; river water is too cold for manatee babies.

Question: Have you nothing better to do?
Answer: Well yeah, but manatee management is pretty cool and interesting!

[Manatee Tidbits] [Manatee Saga] [Sky Patrol] [Public Awareness] [Professor Speaks]
[Manatee Food] [NHSJ & Manatees] [School Clubs] [Threats To Seagrass] [Post-release] [Home]