Adorable Manatee Orphans Call Ohio Home

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio is becoming something of a manatee capital of the Midwest, though the adorable sea cows don’t swim anywhere near the Buckeye State. Zoos in both Columbus and Cincinnati took in three orphan manatee calves this week after their mothers were killed.

The Cincinnati and Columbus zoos are the only U.S. facilities outside of Florida to participate in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership, which began in 1973. Both are second-stage rehabilitation facilities that provide temporary homes for manatees until they are ready for release back into the wild.

The two newcomers to the Columbus Zoo are the 28th and 29th manatees to be rehabilitated since the zoo opened its Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership in 2001.

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Also this week, the Cincinnati Zoo took in a 250-pound, 1-year-old calf after she and her mother were struck by a boat off the coast of Florida on April 9. The mother did not survive. The zoo is rehabilitating three other manatees, all young males, at the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Manatee Springs habitat. In all, the Cincinnati Zoo has taken in 19 manatees since 1999.

“We are extremely proud to be part of this conservation program and happy that we could help make the rescued population at SeaWorld more manageable,” Thane Maynard, director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, said in a news release. “There’s nothing better than being able to work with these amazing creatures and ultimately see them return to the wild.”

Life is perilous for manatees in their native waters.

“Unfortunately, because of boat strikes and weather conditions, SeaWorld has rescued more manatees than they can care for at their facility,” Dr. Mark Campbell, the Cincinnati Zoo’s director of animal health, said in a news release. “We are currently caring for three males, Miles, Matthew, and Pippen, so we could only accommodate one more.”

The female has been named Daphne as a tribute to legendary elephant conservationist Daphne Sheldrick, who died April 12.

Daphne quickly joined in play with the other juvenile manatees. Easily amused and playful, manatees perform body rolls and body surf, seemingly for the pure pleasure of it.

Miles and Matthew are gaining weight are on track to be released back into Florida waters next winter, but Pippen, who was smaller when he arrived, still needs to gain more weight and will remain at the Cincinnati Zoo another year.

“Daphne will be a good companion for him,” Campbell said.

In Columbus, a 143-pound male calf has been named named Heavy Falcon, a nod to the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch that took place on Feb. 6, the same day he was rescued. The orphan was taken to SeaWorld Orlando to begin his rehabilitation, then transferred to Columbus.

The yet-unnamed female calf was showing signs of cold stress when she was rescued with her mother on Feb. 8, but her mother died two days later, orphaning her calf. The calf also began her recovery at SeaWorld Orlando.

“We are so thrilled not only to welcome these two new manatees, but also to have the opportunity to participate in this partnership as a second-stage rehabilitation facility for manatees,” said Becky Ellsworth, curator of the Shores region at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. “Our team is eager to get to know these two new additions over the next few weeks and to continue to help all seven of the manatees in our care grow stronger over time for their eventual releases.”

The Florida manatee, recently downgraded from endangered to threatened, is at risk from both natural and man-made causes of injury and mortality. Exposure to red tide, cold stress, and disease are all natural problems that can affect manatees.

Besides boat strikes, human-caused threats include crushing by flood gates or locks and entanglement in or ingestion of fishing gear. As of 2016, the population was estimated to include 6,000 animals.

Photo of Daphne courtesy of Michelle Curley/Cincinnati Zoo; video via Columbus Zoo