Manaus - The numbers of manatee offspring that arrive at the Amazonian National Research Institute in seven months this year have already equaled all of the rescues performed last year. Ten animals were rescued along the year, before the end of July. Some see this as good news, a small and captivating animal brought back in the arms of an employee to the tanks of the Aquatic Mammal Lab. However, this is a scene that means the arrival a yet another orphan, threatened to die and one that may never return to nature. If the river offspring refugee survives, that is already something.

“On the brighter side, this can mean a greater awareness, the result of an awareness effect or of a more effective surveillance, but it can also be negative. I hope it isn’t the result of an increase in hunting”, says biologist Isabel Manhães, of the Friends of the Manatee Association of the Amazon.

Of the ten rescued animals, three died notwithstanding the efforts and care received at Inpa. The biologist also studies the reasons that lead to these offspring being cut off from their mothers. One hypothesis suggests that adult manatees are being hunted and their offspring simply abandoned. But there is also the possibility of offspring being left behind by their mothers as when, for instance, one of them gets caught in fishing nets. There are cases in which offspring are found in malhadeiras, or a special type of fishing net widely used in the region.

In almost all of the cases, the offspring arrive in a state of debilitation. “They need their mother’s milk in the first two years of their lives, as only in the second year onwards they are capable of feeding on plants”, explains Isabel Manhães. When captured by community dwellers, however well intentioned they may be, agony begins for the offspring, usually hungry, deprived of adequate food and removed from its mother’s protection.

See the interactive map with the exact locations in which the offspring were found. You can use the cursors on the top left hand corner for navigation.

1st Offspring


The first offspring rescued in 2010 arrived at Inpa’s Aquatic Mammal Lab on the morning of January 26. Inhabitants of Codajás (AM) kept the animal in a tank until the arrival of the environmental police that then transported it to Inpa. It was a healthy female that was adopted by an adult that had just given birth. Placed in the same tank, it was fed by its stepmother.

2nd Offspring


In the early afternoon of February 12, the second offspring of the year arrived at Inpa, this time it was a male. It was also maintained in artificial captivity and handed over to the environmental police; it was much distressed and carried a harpoon injury on its back. It was cared for by a vet in the laboratory and survived.

3rd Offspring


The third offspring arrived from the Juçara community, in Coari, Solimões River. It was handed over to Inpa by the Municipal Secretary for the Environment, on March 22nd, but it was undernourished. It weighed 13 kilos and was 96,5 in length. It died on June 7. 4th Offspring


This one also arrived from Coari, on March 8. It was found in the Mato Grosso community, enmeshed in a fishnet. It was rescued on April 13 by the environmental police and taken to Manaus. It survived just a few days. It was the first rescued offspring to die at Inpa this year, on April 20.

5th Offspring


The second female among the rescued offspring this year was found in the Puraquequara Lake, in Manaus. An inhabitant saw the offspring floating by the lake’s banks and retrieved it. It was taken to an inn close by the lake and placed in an improvised tank where it was fed milk from a feeding bottle until the arrival of the military police of the Environmental Battalion.

6th Offspring


Another offspring was found on April 19, enmeshed in a fishnet, the year’s sixth rescue. It was close to the Bom Jesus do Grêmio community, at the mouth of Gurupá Lake, located in the township of Careiro da Várzea. It was maintained by community inhabitants in a 1.000 liter water reservoir until rescue arrived two days later.

7th Offspring

Up to this moment this year, three offspring have been rescued in Coari. The most recent of these was found by Itapeuvá community members, in Solimões River. A female needed a wound dressing, as she had a perforation below her right flipper. She received first aid at Inpa, and now she is recovering at the Center for Preservation and Research of Aquatic Mammals (CPPMA), in Balbina, a township that belongs to President Figueiredo.

8th Offspring

The eighth rescued offspring is also recovering at CPPMA. It is a female, believed to be 2 months old at the time of rescue. She was found in the São Francisco Gurupá community, Inema Lake, in Careiro da Várzea, on May 25. It was also found enmeshed in a fishnet. It was maintained in captivity until June 16. It was undernourished but otherwise unharmed. It was transferred to Balbina.

9th Offspring


This one received the name of Iara, given by the community members who rescued her. It was found in Preto River, in the Castanho community, in Autazes, on July 2. It was maintained in a water reservoir awaiting the arrival of the Friends of the Manatee Association of the Amazon and taken by plane to Manaus. It was very much weakened and was treated. Unfortunately, it did not resist and died on July 7.

10th Offspring

The tenth manatee rescued this year was found on July 12 by a fisherman, close to the Cristo Rei community, Anibá River, in Silves. It was alone, close to the riverbank. It was tied by the tail with a rope to a canoe. It was rescued on July 14th, received medical care, especially on the wound caused by the rope. It was undernourished, but adapted well to the milky formula developed by Inpa researchers to feed manatee offspring.
(Translation Robert Rajabally - IDStudio)

Vandré Fonseca was born in São Paulo and lived there until he majored in journalism at Casper Libero. Later, he went off to Roraima, where he began to write for ((o))eco. He is married and today is a correspondent in Manaus.