Four manatee calves are fed their last bottles by the Animal Care Team at SeaWorld Orlando before they move on to solid food – romaine lettuce.
The four calves, Laverne, Squiggy, Carmine and Leonard, were rescued after being found abandoned in Florida waters. Assisting these abandoned calves is crucial to their survival as they depend on their mothers’ milk for the first several months of their life. The SeaWorld Animal Care Team developed a special formula that provides them with the nutrients they need and provided round the clock care including feeding them every three hours.
When they are fully grown the manatees will weigh over 900 kilograms and will survive on a diet of plants including turtle grass, shoal grass, mangrove leaves and algae.
SeaWorld Orlando has been working to help manatees for more than forty years. Since 1976, the SeaWorld Animal Rescue Team has rescued 498 manatees and returned 261.
Back to news
