Manatee - good-natured sea cow

Manatees are huge animals that live in the sea and feed on underwater vegetation. Their weight is up to 600 kg, and in length they can reach 5 meters. Most likely, the ancestors of manatees lived on land, but after they decided to change their place of residence and moved to the water element. Initially, there were more than 20 species, but only three are known to humans: steller cows , manatees and dugongs. First, unfortunately, there is no, since man completely exterminated this species.

What a sea cow is, people discovered for themselves in the XVII century and immediately began to mercilessly exterminate them. The meat of these animals is very tasty, the fat soft and tender, which is especially good for making ointments, the skin of the sea cows was also used. Now manatees are declared an endangered species, and it is forbidden to hunt them. But still, sea cows suffer from human activities. They continually swallow grids and hooks, which slowly kill them. Great damage to their health is caused by pollution of ocean waters, construction of dams.

Because of the great weight of the enemies, manatees do not have much. In the sea they are threatened by tiger sharks, and in the tropical rivers - by caimans. Despite the phlegmatic nature and slowness, they still manage to avoid a true death, therefore the main enemy of sea cows is a man. They can not be caught, but a large number of animals die under propellers of ships, so many countries are developing programs to rescue manatees.

The sea cow prefers to live in shallow water, the optimum depth for it is 2-3 meters. Every day Manatees eat about 20% of their weight, so they are specially bred in places where excessive vegetation spoils the quality of water. They feed mainly early in the morning or in the evening, and in the afternoon they rest, they come to the shore to warm themselves in the sun.

In total there are three kinds of manatees: African, Amazonian and American. The African sea cow, as it should be to all Africans, is slightly darker than its relatives. She lives in warm equatorial rivers and on the west African coast. The Amazonian manatee lives only in fresh water, so its skin is smooth and smooth, and on the chest and in some cases on the stomach there is a white or pink spot. The American sea cow prefers the Atlantic coast, especially she likes the Caribbean Sea. She can swim in both salt and fresh water. It is the American manatees that are the largest.

It is very interesting for the manatees to observe, their tail is similar to the paddle, and the front paws with claws resemble fins. They use them very skillfully, they can walk on the bottom, scratched, keep and stuff food into their mouths. Search for food, bask in the sun, play with other representatives of the species - that's all the care that the sea cow has entrusted. Manatee mostly lives alone, only during the mating season the female surrounds about two dozen boyfriends.

The calf is harvested for about a year, at birth its weight is about 30 kg, and the length is slightly more than a meter. With his mother, he lives about two years, she shows him her usual places to look for food. Then the manatee grows up and becomes independent. It is believed that their relationship is inseparable and maintained throughout life.