- Where to see one
- 4 U.S. zoos in our directory hold manatee, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the manatee
The West Indian manatee is a large, aquatic, plant-eating mammal of warm coastal waters from the eastern United States to northern Brazil, including rivers and estuaries. It tolerates large changes in salinity but its low metabolic rate and lack of thick insulating fat confine it to warm water. The average animal is about 2.7–3.5 m (8.9–11.5 ft) long and weighs 200–600 kg. It has no hind limbs, using a spatula-like paddle instead, and a prehensile snout for grabbing vegetation. Sensitive whiskers help it feed and navigate. It feeds four to eight hours a day, eating 5–10% of its body weight daily, and lives alone or in herds. One calf is born to a female every two to three years on average.
Manatee facts
- Its teeth are replaced continuously, moving forward at 1–2 mm per month before they fall out.
- The snout is prehensile like that of the elephant, one of its relatives.
- In winter it seeks warm-water refuges, many of them created by runoff from power plants.
- In 2006 a manatee was spotted in the Wolf River at Memphis, over 700 river miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
Where to see manatee in the U.S.
4 zoos across 2 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 4 zoos holding manatee by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
