African Manatee
The African manatee, or West African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis), is a large aquatic mammal of the rivers, estuaries, mangroves and coastal lagoons of West and Central Africa, from Mauritania and Senegal to Angola. It reaches up to about 4.5 meters and usually weighs around 360 kilograms, with large animals up to 500. It is the least known of the three manatee species: shy, mostly active at night in many places and living in murky water, it is rarely seen even where it is common. It feeds mainly on water plants, mangrove leaves and grasses along the banks, but unlike other manatees it also eats clams and other mollusks, and in some coastal areas animal food makes up a large part of its diet. Some populations live far inland, along the Niger in Mali and Niger and in lakes such as Lake Volta and Lake Léré, isolated by dams and drought. The IUCN lists it as Vulnerable, with probably fewer than 10,000 animals, threatened by hunting for meat, accidental capture in fishing nets, dams and the loss of mangroves.
Where does the African manatee live?
The African manatee lives along the Atlantic side of Africa, from Mauritania and Senegal in the north to Angola in the south, in some 21 countries. It moves freely between coastal waters, estuaries, mangrove creeks, lagoons and rivers, like its American relative, and it can live entirely in fresh water. Big river systems carry it far inland: it lives along the Niger through Mali and Niger, in the Benue, in the lower Congo and its tributaries, and in lakes such as Lake Volta in Ghana, Lake Ossa in Cameroon and Lake Léré in Chad. It was once recorded in Lake Chad, but it has not been reported there since 1929. Many of these inland groups were cut off from the sea by dams like Akosombo on the Volta and Diama on the Senegal, and they now survive in isolated stretches of river and lake. The most important areas include the Bijagós archipelago of Guinea-Bissau, the rivers and lagoons of Senegal and the Gambia, the Niger Delta in Nigeria and the coasts and rivers of Cameroon and Gabon. It is rarely found in open ocean waters.
How big is the African manatee?
The African manatee looks very much like the West Indian manatee of the Americas. It has a large, rounded body that narrows toward a broad, flat, paddle shaped tail, which it moves up and down to swim. Adults reach up to about 4.5 meters, though most are around 3 to 4 meters, and usually weigh about 360 kilograms, with large animals reaching 500. Calves are born after a pregnancy of about 13 months. The skin is gray to dark brown, wrinkled and often patchy, and can carry algae. The muzzle is blunt and fleshy, covered with stiff bristles that help it grasp plants, and its eyes are small. Compared with the West Indian manatee, it has a slightly flatter snout and more protruding eyes. The front limbs are rounded flippers that still carry small nails, the last trace of its land ancestors, while the hind limbs are gone completely. Because it lives in murky water and is shy, scientists have measured and weighed far fewer African manatees than American ones.
What does the African manatee eat?
The African manatee feeds mainly on plants. It grazes on submerged grasses, floating vegetation, mangrove leaves and the plants that hang over riverbanks, eating around 4 to 9 percent of its body weight a day, and in some places it raids rice fields, which brings it into conflict with farmers. But it is the only manatee known to eat a lot of animal food. Studies in Cameroon found clams and other mollusks in its diet, and in some coastal areas animal prey makes up a large share of what it eats. It also takes fish from fishing nets now and then, which makes fishermen see it as a competitor. This flexible diet helps it survive in places where water plants are scarce for part of the year, such as rivers that shrink in the dry season. By cropping plants it also helps keep waterways open, as other manatees do.
Behavior
The African manatee is primarily solitary, though it sometimes forms loose groups at food sources or during the breeding season. It surfaces to breathe every three to five minutes, but can remain submerged for up to twenty minutes when resting. Its movements are slow and deliberate, powered by the broad flat tail. Despite its calm appearance, it can accelerate quickly when alarmed. It communicates through squeaks and chirps, sounds that are especially important between mothers and their calves. Active at any hour of the day, it tends to rest in deeper water during the warmest parts of the afternoon.
Mami Wata and the manatee
Along the coasts of West and Central Africa, the manatee has a deep place in local culture. Many people link it with Mami Wata, a water spirit often pictured as a woman with a fish tail, who brings wealth or misfortune to those she meets, and some researchers think the sight of a female manatee surfacing to breathe, holding a calf, helped inspire these stories, much as manatees and dugongs are linked to mermaid legends elsewhere. In some places the manatee is sacred or taboo and is never hunted. In others, its meat is prized, its oil and bones are used in traditional medicine and it is believed to bring luck or power. Fishermen who catch one by accident may keep it rather than release it. Because of this, conservation projects in countries such as Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon and Nigeria work with fishing communities, local leaders and schools, and in several places the traditional respect for the animal has become an ally for protecting it.
Why is the African manatee Vulnerable?
The African manatee faces a combination of pressures that have pushed its populations into a fragmented and declining state. Accidental entanglement in artisanal fishing nets is one of the leading causes of death, and in many communities the animals are kept for meat rather than released. Direct hunting for bushmeat remains common across much of its range, with manatee meat considered a delicacy in some areas. Dam construction disrupts migration routes and isolates populations in disconnected river sections. Water pollution from agriculture and mining, combined with the destruction of wetlands and riparian vegetation, continues to degrade the habitat it depends on.
How many African manatees are left?
Nobody knows exactly. The African manatee is so shy and lives in such remote, murky waters that it has never been counted across its range, and the best estimates suggest there are probably fewer than 10,000 left. The IUCN has listed it as Vulnerable since 1978, and populations are thought to be falling in most countries. In 2013 it was moved to Appendix I of CITES, the strictest level, which bans international commercial trade, and it is protected by national laws in most range countries, although enforcement is often weak. Research has grown in recent years: scientists now track manatees in Lake Ossa in Cameroon, survey the Bijagós in Guinea-Bissau and work with fishermen in Senegal and Nigeria to release animals caught in nets. Protecting key wetlands, reducing hunting and planning dams with manatees in mind are the most urgent priorities, because the species reproduces slowly, with one calf every three to five years, and cannot recover quickly once its numbers fall.
Where it is found
The African Manatee can be found in places such as:
