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Recovered Manatee Back In The Wild

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2007

TAMPA - A 1,050-pound Florida manatee swam away Thursday morning from the Lowry Park Zoo keepers who had cared for him the past nine months.

The 7-year-old male manatee, which had been rescued in Corpus Christi, Texas, was released in Crystal River in Citrus County, an area that includes a national wildlife refuge where manatees live year-round.

The manatee, known as Texas, was loaded from a holding pool by crane into a truck for the trip. A blood sample was taken and he was patted by the caregivers, a procedure used for 'settling them down,' said David Murphy, the zoo's veterinarian who oversaw the animal's care.

The manatee was rescued by the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network. He was treated by the Texas State Aquarium and brought, via a 24-hour trip in a U-Haul trailer, to the David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Hospital at the Tampa zoo on Jan. 8. At the time, he was in critical condition, suffering from cold stress and related symptoms.

Murphy said the manatee was not returned to Texas because 'that is not the normal home range' for manatees.

The animal will be monitored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Research Institute. Commission staff assisted zoo workers with the release Thursday.

Texas is the 199th manatee treated at the zoo's manatee hospital, which opened in 1991. With Texas' release, the zoo will be caring for nine manatees. It costs about $300 to feed one adult manatee for one day, according to figures provided by the zoo.

Lenora Lake

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