Wildlife officials brainstorming how to prevent record-number manatee deaths

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The number of manatees that have died so far this year in Florida already tops any other year on record.

As of last week, 968 manatees have died in Florida.

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State wildlife officials are working to protect other manatees from the same fate.

Many of this year’s manatee deaths happened from starvation during the first months of the year. And with winter approaching, state wildlife officials are looking for ways to help the threatened species avoid another “unusual mortality event.”

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On Thursday, the director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, outlined a new budget request of nearly $7 million addressing habitat restoration, enhanced manatee rescue and mortality response, and an expansion of the state’s manatee critical care network.

“There are lots of discussions going on right now like how can we prevent some of these problems this winter,” said Dr. Martine De Wit of FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

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The big focus is increasing FWC’s rescue capacity, which includes working with the Manatee Rehab Partnership to increase the number of rescues.

There have also been some conversations among state wildlife officials about feeding emaciated manatees in the wild and whether that might work.

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“Providing food is a temporary solution, very short-term to maybe save some lives but in the end we need the habitat restored and that’s not going to happen overnight,” De Wit said.

Lawmakers will consider FWC’s budget request during the 2022 legislative session.

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