BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) rescued a lonesome manatee calf near Pompano Beach Monday.
<a href="http://<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On Sunday, our staff received a report of a lone <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/manatee?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#manatee</a> calf near Pompano Beach. The calf was reported alone again Monday morning, and our team responded to successfully rescue the animal and transport it to <a href="https://twitter.com/SeaWorld?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SeaWorld</a>. <a href="https://t.co/61YgIU8IzW">pic.twitter.com/61YgIU8IzW</a></p>— MyFWC (@MyFWC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MyFWC/status/1709205062218662117?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">According to FWC staff, they received a report of a manatee calf separated from its mother near Pompano Beach on Sunday.
RELATED COVERAGE: Two manatees rescued from Cape Coral canal
On Monday, it was still alone.
FWC says, “Except for mother(cow)/calf pairs, manatees do not need to travel together, although they do socialize when other manatees are encountered.”
Mother manatees nurse their young for one to two years, so a calf may be dependent during that period.
FWC responded to rescue the calf and transported it to SeaWorld in Orlando.
The Florida manatee is a native, keystone species found in many of the state’s waterways.
The population has decreased to a minimum of 7,520 animals today.
In May 2017, it was reclassified from an endangered to a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Manatees are now protected by the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act and are federally protected by both the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.
The post Baby manatee rescued by FWC in Broward County appeared first on ABC7 Southwest Florida.