Visiting the Manatee Rescue Center
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On Sunday afternoon, we visited the Amazonian Manatee Rescue Center (ACOBIA) in Quistococha, Peru. The Center is housed at the Institute de Investigations de la Amazonia Peruana (or in English, The Peruvian Amazon Research Institute) and works with local organizations on educational programs regarding the conservation of the Amazonian Manatee.
The Amazonian Manatee is found in the fresh waters of the Amazon River and its tributaries. Years of both commercial hunting (now outlawed) and by the indigenous people of the Amazon (still common) made the manatees increasingly rare. In an effort to preserve the species, manatees are now legally protected.
At the Center, local biologists work in partnership with the Dallas World Aquarium to rescue and rehabilitate adult manatees and care for baby manatees who have been orphaned, injured or abandoned.
The adult manatees live in a man-made lake designed specifically for the Center. The adults come up for air about every 5 minutes, but we could only see the ripples in the water from their snouts as they came up for air. While we watched for air bubbles, our guide taught us about the manatees and their plight before entering the enclosed tank area to see the babies.
Baby manatees remain close to their mothers for up to 2 years and are dependent on their mothers for nutrition and to learn about feeding and resting areas, travel routes, and warm water refuges. Because of the long period of time baby manatees spend with their mothers, the orphans need extra care.
The Center has created a special formula to provide the orphaned babies the nutrition they need. I was lucky enough to bottle feed to the four babies in rehabilitation. Manatees are nearly blind and the babies would clumsily swim up to the bottles to feed. Later they curiously came above water to snack on the lettuce leaves while I pet their tough, slippery skin and rubbed their little snouts.
The Amazonian Manatee Rescue Center does not have a website, but for more information you can visit the Dallas World Zoo.
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