Last Wednesday, March 29, «Manatee Appreciation Day» was held — a day of gratitude and respect for manatees. Various festive events were dedicated to the wonderful news. According to the West Indian authorities, a new generation has already grown up, which does not hold a grudge against a person, because it has not suffered at his hands.
Since the late 1970s, the number of sea cows in this region has increased from a critical few hundred to 6,000 or more. Manatees have moved away from the extinction line and are gradually turning into a stable, stable animal species. This is entirely the merit of people, but there is not much to be proud of.
The main thing that people have done is to stop killing manatees for nothing. And they even introduced punishments not only for poachers, but also for those who caused suffering to animals by negligence. In the Caribbean, off the coast of Florida and Puerto Rico, draconian restrictions have been imposed on any activity at sea. There will be no more nets and scars from the screws of ships, but there will be calm waters and lots and lots of food.
It will not be possible to completely exclude risk factors in the sea, which has long belonged to man, and not to wild nature. The key factor of the program to restore the population of sea cows was the nursing of orphaned manatee children. These are not isolated cases — the work has been going on for decades in a row.
Manatees are peaceful and unpretentious enough that the issue of creating reserves or taming them was not raised at all. They can live next to people if they are just careful and not annoying. Yes, it’s about tourists.
Alas, all of the above is true only for the manatees of the West Indies. And those who live in other regions of the world are still waiting for a person to come to his senses and be fully responsible for his actions.