River Safari’s Kai & Junior To Travel To The Carribbean For World’s First Manatee Repopulation Programme
Best pals Kai and
Junior will be the first manatees to arrive in Guadeloupe in over a century;
Future offspring to repopulate manatee-extinct area in landmark project.
SINGAPORE – River Safari’s Kai and Junior are set to become the first two manatees in over a century to arrive in Guadeloupe. The pair are pioneer animals for the world’s first manatee re-population programme.
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| River Safari aquarist Hafiz Rahmat conducting
canvas conditioning for Junior, a 6-year-old male manatee, to prepare him for
the 30-odd-hour journey from Singapore to Guadeloupe. Junior and his tank mate
Kai are the first two manatees chosen to participate in the world’s first
manatee repopulation programme. PHOTO CREDIT: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE |
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| Sébastien Rives from the National Park of Guadeloupe hand-feeding Kai and Junior with high fibre pellets inside River Safari’s Amazon Flooded Forest, the world’s largest freshwater aquarium. Sébastien was on a study trip to River Safari to understand Kai and Junior’s personalities better and learn about their likes and dislikes, which will aid their care and well-being when the pair arrives in Guadeloupe. PHOTO CREDIT: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE |
SINGAPORE – River Safari’s Kai and Junior are set to become the first two manatees in over a century to arrive in Guadeloupe. The pair are pioneer animals for the world’s first manatee re-population programme.
Spearheaded by the National Park of Guadeloupe, the
historic conservation project aims to reintroduce the Antillean manatees in
Guadeloupe through a breeding programme with a founding group of 15 manatees
from various zoological institutions. An important cultural symbol locally, the
West Indian manatee species has been extinct in the waters of Guadeloupe since
the beginning of the 20th century as
a result of excessive hunting activities.
Kai and Junior will be the first to arrive at the Grand
Cul-de-sac Marin, a protected bay which measures 15,000 hectares and would
shield the manatees from boating traffic by way of an enforced no-entry zone.
The future offspring from this founding group will be reintroduced to the wild,
eventually repopulating the Caribbean region.
Dr. Cheng Wen-Haur, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Life Sciences Officer, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said, “We have been very successful in breeding manatees in our care for the past 20 years. We are very happy that this success will now contribute to restocking part of the species’ historic range in the Caribbean where it has been extinct for the past century. Projects like this is one of many ways that we are contributing to the survival of species in the wild.”
Kai and Junior have been selected as they have reached
sexual maturity, and are best pals inside the aquarium due to age similarity.
Kai was born on 8 October 2009 and Junior was born on 2 February 2010. They are
almost inseparable, and can often be spotted swimming and feeding together.
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| Seven-year-old male manatee, Kai, was chosen as he
had reached sexual maturity and is best friends in the aquarium with Junior.
Male manatees can reach sexual maturity from three to four years old onwards. PHOTO CREDIT: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE |
Kai and Junior’s flight to Guadeloupe will occur within
the next few weeks, and is likely to take more than 30 hours with several pit
stops. Although a date has not been set, aquarists have been busy conducting
operant conditioning, and spending extra time with them before the final
farewell. Canvas conditioning is required to ensure that both manatees are
comfortable and familiar with the material on export day. Kai and Junior will
take turns to be guided to rest on their canvases, and a hoist will then lift
the canvas to place the manatees inside their open top traveling crates,
custom-fitted to their lengths.
These crates are lined with thick sponge to ensure that
Kai and Junior remain comfortable throughout the flight, and also to absorb
water which has to be periodically sprayed on the manatees to keep their skin
moist. In true VIP style, Kai and Junior will have their personal flight
entourage, which includes veterinarians from the National Park of Guadeloupe,
and two aquarists from River Safari.
“The ultimate conservation goal would be to reintroduce threatened animal species to the wild and yet it is a very rare opportunity for this to happen as there is a severe lack of suitable wild habitats, among other challenges. We are very happy that the manatees will have such an opportunity. We are confident that Kai and Junior will do well for the good of their species”, said Keith So, Deputy Head Aquarist at River Safari.
Manatees are currently listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. Their numbers have declined in the last century
due to hunting pressures, entrapment in commercial nets and collisions with
propellers and motorboats.
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The WAHM,
Dulce Javier- Ansis