The Manatee

Manatees are large aquatic mammals that are endangered. They are gentle herbivores, and consume 10-15% of their body weight daily.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Blue Springs State Park in Florida, where there is a hot spring. manatees love warm water, so they flock there during winter. Florida has an extremely large manatee population.

Manatees have a calf every 2-5 years or so. The gestation period (The time a baby is in the mom's belly) is about a year. Baby manatees nurse for 1-2 years.



sources: http://www.savethemanatee.org/manfcts.htm