WEST INDIAN MANTAEE 



Trichechus manatus Linnaeus 



KINGDOM Animalia 



CLASS Mammalia 



ORDER Sirenia 



FAMILY Trichechidae 



OTHER COMMON 



NAMES sea cow; sea 



siren. 



DATE 



Entered into SWIS To be determined. 



Updates 9 October 1976; 



8 March 1977; 1 June 1979 



LEGAL STATUS 



Federal: Endangered (32 FR 4001; 11 March 

 1967 and 35 FR 8491; 2 June 1970). 



States: Endangered: Georgia, South Carolina, 

 Texas, Threatened; Florida. 



REASONS FOR CURRENT STATUS 



The manatee population has decHned severely 

 from an estimated several thousand individuals in 

 the 1700's and early 1800's to as few as 1,000 

 today (Hartman 1974). 



Initial population decreases resulted from 

 overharvesting for meat, oil, and leather. Today, 

 little illegal hunting occurs, but heavy mortality 

 results from accidental boat and barge strikes and 

 entrapment in canal locks and flood control dams 

 (Campbell and Powell 1976; Irvine et al. 1978). 

 Some malicious killing by vandals occurs, but is 

 not considered a significant factor. 



Actual physical habitat loss may be of con- 

 siderable importance; residential, commercial, and 

 recreational development is rampant in Florida. 

 Heavy boat traffic in some areas is a serious threat 

 to manatees and their habitat. 



Recent data (Campbell and Irvine 1978) in- 

 dicate that manatees may be diverted from their 

 southward fall movements to industrial warm- 

 water effluents located north of their historic 



