When we hear about organizations and concerned citizens rescuing animals, we tend to think about it from the lens of helping stray dogs and cats.
And granted, it’s not as if that perception comes out of nowhere because that is a clear focus of many rescue efforts throughout the world. But at the same time, there are a lot of other animals in this world that are in a similar need and they have people dedicated to helping them too.
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But of course, what animals we’re talking about often varies from region to region. Because while deer are just about everywhere, you’re not quite as likely to see a swan in your backyard in some locations.
With that in mind, we can get a sense of why a team of cast members at Walt Disney World is serious about looking out for manatees while most of us might not even have realized they were in danger.
About a week after she was born and apparently abandoned, a manatee named Plantaina was discovered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
People reported that she was brought to a rehabilitation program at Walt Disney World and was the smallest manatee ever rescued with a weight of 28 pounds at the time.
Nonetheless, she was able to pull through while under human care and her rehabilitation was considered successful enough to allow her to return to her natural habitat in February of that year.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before she had to be rescued yet again because she started losing weight.
According to NPR , this is becoming an increasingly common problem among manatees as many of them are struggling to find food due to a massive die-off of their primary source of nourishment, the seagrass found within Florida’s Indian River Lagoon.
And while the effects on the manatee population are ramping up in recent years, the source of seagrass loss has been developing since 2011. The lagoon has seen algal blooms spread often since that year, which kills seagrass by blocking out the sunlight it needs.
This problem is putting some serious strain on rescue organizations, which is likely why other facilities like one found at Walt Disney World are starting to step in.
As part of the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership, vulnerable manatees like Plantaina are brought to The Seas with Nemo & Friends exhibit at Epcot, where they’re watched over by veterinarians and provided with a calorie-rich diet while being monitored around the clock.
And as NPR reported , this rehabilitation process is known to take between four to nine months because it involves slowly coaxing the animal’s stomach back to its normal size.
Fortunately, this process seemed to work on Plantaina and she was released into the wild yet again after reaching a healthy weight of 680 pounds.
She was also fitted with a satellite tracker that experts can use to monitor her migration patterns, socialization with other manatees, and her overall health.
According to WDW News Today , these trackers are supposed to break off in the event that they become entangled to keep the manatee safe.
As Disney’s director of animal and science operations Scott Terrell said, “The level of passion and teamwork our cast members dedicate to all animals is inspiring, even for those only temporarily in our care like rescued manatees, which are an iconic species around Florida.”
h/t: People
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