Debris ingestion by the Antillean Manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus)

Attademo, Fernanda Loffler Niemeyer; Balensiefer, Deisi Cristiane; Freire, Augusto Carlos da Bôaviagem; de Sousa, Glaucia Pereira; da Cunha, Fábio Adonis Gouveia Carneiro; Luna, Fábia de Oliveira

Debris ingestion by the Antillean Manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus)

2015

The Antillean manatee inhabits coastal regions of North and Northeastern Brazil and currently is considered an endangered species in the country. Aiming to gather information for the development of public policies focusing on the conservation of manatees, the National Center for Research and Conservation of Aquatic Mammals of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity has been rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing these mammals since the 1980s. Over the last 36years, 40 manatees were released by the CMA/ICMBio and four of them were rescued again due to debris ingestion. Two of these manatees died and the other two were taken back into captivity for a new rehabilitation process. The four mammals had confirmed diagnosis of plastic debris ingestion. These findings demonstrate that the environment where the manatees live after being released had a significant amount of garbage which may hinder the success of the species conservation in Brazil.

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