The young manatee's mother was nowhere to be seen, and it didn't react when people in kayaks approached it. ...more

March 17, 2009

A young manatee released into the Alafia River Aug. 13 is lucky to have survived her injuries, a Lowry Park Zoo veterinarian said. ...more

August 20, 2008

A young female manatee found entangled in rope, crab traps and a channel marker surely felt a weight lifted from her shoulders Wednesday morning when biologists released her back into the wild. ...more

August 14, 2008

Frannie, a young female manatee recuperating in the comfortable tanks of Lowry Park Zoo for the past two months, will be set free this morning in the Alafia River, if all goes according to plan. ...more

August 13, 2008

Manatees will continue to get the highest level of protection that Florida affords an imperiled species, thanks in part to Gov. Charlie Crist and thousands of letters and e-mail messages he received from manatee lovers. ...more

December 6, 2007

By nearly all accounts, Florida's manatee population has made an amazing recovery in the past 30 years. The state once estimated that only 600 to 800 remained, while today the fewest that have been counted during recent winters is 3,100. It's likely the total is much higher, because the warm winters recently have not concentrated the animals in areas where they can be counted readily. ...more

November 30, 2007

In September this year, the IUCN World Conservation Union (IUCN) officially declared the Florida manatee endangered using exactly the same criteria state officials are attempting to use to justify downgrading the manatee's status from Endangered to Threatened. After a scientific status review at the international level, the Florida manatee was declared Endangered on the Red List, which is recognized as the most reliable evaluation of the world's species. The manatee's status evaluation was conducted and also reviewed by some of the world's most qualified sirenian scientists who based their recommendation for listing as Endangered on the most recent scientific data. ...more

November 23, 2007

Governor Charlie Crist did the right thing for Florida manatees last month. The governor urged the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to delay a vote that will decide whether manatees will lose protection as an endangered species. ...more

October 1, 2007