Good evening everybody, I've noticed that manatees are only kept in two or three zoos/aquariums in the US outside of Florida. Is there a particular reason why so many US zoos and aquariums don't have manatees? Is it because of cost, laws, or something else? Thank you & excited to see the responses!
Why aren't there more manatees in zoos outside of Florida?
Before someone puts a better answer laws and costs are obviously big reasons. Manatees can only be brought in as rescues and many get rehabilitated and get returned back to the wild. The amount of unreleasable animals isn’t large enough to justify building more facilities which are expensive to build and maintain. Of course there is also a ban on breeding rescued manatees in order to have space for new rescues. Since there are (thankfully) no surplus manatees from breeding, there’s no need to have more holders, let alone holders that are out of Florida.
Thank you for answering my question!
Also, do you believe that more manatee rehabilitation programs should be established by US zoos to aid injured manatees? Or do you believe that zoos like Jacksonville and Tampa, which are expanding their exhibits for their rescued manatees, will be able to help them efficiently and other zoos outside of Florida should focus on other species?
Bringing manatees out of Florida and back to releasing takes time and resources so the number of manatee holders outside FL is probably enough. Zoos outside FL should first and foremost focus on rescuing local species. But if a zoo can afford a charismatic rare sea mammal outside its native range then I think sea otter is a good candidate despite being expensive to maintain.
@PossumRoach has covered the bases, but I'll expand on it a bit.
All Florida Manatees are owned and managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and this includes unreleasable ones. They dictate all placements and movements, and so even if a facility is interested they may not be accepted by USFWS. For example, SeaWorld San Diego wanted to participate in the rehab program as well, but the USFWS considers them too far for transport purposes and denied the request.
Also, virtually all manatees are rehab and release, I think there are currently less than half a dozen permanently captive manatees. This makes proximity to the wild range rather key, as less travel distance equals less stress to the animal and less cost. As there are plenty of participating facilities already in Florida, there really isn't a need for more further away facilities holding them. There also can be periods where rehabbed manatees have left but new ones are yet to be transferred, leaving the exhibit empty on occasion. They're basically an "as rehab housing is needed" exhibit animal that doesn't inherently need a widespread program.
All Florida Manatees are owned and managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and this includes unreleasable ones. They dictate all placements and movements, and so even if a facility is interested they may not be accepted by USFWS. For example, SeaWorld San Diego wanted to participate in the rehab program as well, but the USFWS considers them too far for transport purposes and denied the request.
Also, virtually all manatees are rehab and release, I think there are currently less than half a dozen permanently captive manatees. This makes proximity to the wild range rather key, as less travel distance equals less stress to the animal and less cost. As there are plenty of participating facilities already in Florida, there really isn't a need for more further away facilities holding them. There also can be periods where rehabbed manatees have left but new ones are yet to be transferred, leaving the exhibit empty on occasion. They're basically an "as rehab housing is needed" exhibit animal that doesn't inherently need a widespread program.
I noticed that according to Zootierliste, Dallis World Aquarium has manatees. They are also in several European zoos, and Singapore Zoo seems to be breeding them freely. Of course these are not Florida manatees, but are the same species. I would think it would be possible for any zoo that wanted to display them to do so. Probably it comes down to cost against perceived visitor interest.