Legends about sirens are the only form of manatees that survived our times in Guadeloupe, French island in the Caribbean. Large, slow and living mainly in shallow waters, these gentle giants were an easy catch for the hunters from colonization times. One of the first settlers and naturalists from Europe, Father J.B. du Tertre, wrote in 1667 that there were so many manatees in Guadeloupe, that they could have been caught and eaten every day and would have never disappear.
Today we know he was wrong. It’s been a century since the last manatee song turned into a long silence. The big Goyave River, once full of these marine mammals grazing on lush vegetation, is now empty. Only a few still remember, that Guadeloupe used to be a manatee home.
But does Guadeloupe remember? Do hectars of underwater grass remember that they used to feed the biggest herbivorous marine mammal on Earth? Are there still turtles old enough to remember the sunny days when they shared the grazing space with manatees? Is there mangrove forest that remember pregnant manatee females hiding in the darkness of murky water and tangled roots to give birth to her only calf?
Science says yes.
Manatees went extinct, but Guadeloupe’s nature is a rare treasure that is still well preserved. So well, that years of studies showed that manatees reintroduction in Guadeloupe is possible.
This, is where a new story begin.
Guadeloupe National Park have launched the first in the world program to reintroduce a marine mammal to the habitat from which it went completely extinct – reintroduction of manatees.
The Park has led the preliminary phase of the project in 2015-2019. Local team of vets and keepers was trained, the manatee breeding center was constructed, release sites were carefully studied, and, for the first time, two captive Antillean manatees from Singapore Zoo were succefully translocated to specially designed facilities in Guadeloupe. These years of hard work have brought a unique and valuable experience. Now, in order to move forward, careful analysis of the lessons learned is a key to developing a solid plan of manatees reintroduction. What is more, such new knowledge, shared with scientists around the world, can help in conservation of manatees and dugongs around the world.
Wildlife reintroductions face multiple challenges and require a strong local support and continuous learning to succeed. But the efforts are definately worth it. These conservation actions create an exceptional opportunity to bring back the keystone species to where they went extinct from. This, in turn, means that they will be able to fill again their ecological role and in such way impact the whole ecosystem. They can make nature flourish again, we just need to help them take the first step.
In “Capture and Release” we believe in this unique opportunity and its high potential for us all - wildife, ecosystems and humans. It's because we are all interconnected. Successful reintroduction of manatees in Guadeloupe will improve the conservation status of the species, restore the lost balance of the coastal ecosystem, and improve human well-being through ecosystem services, like for example protection from hurricanes.
We are working on enabling reintroduction project to continue and to succeed, by:
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engaging the local community in the project to include social dimensions in a holistic approach
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reviewing and analysing the lessons learned from the first preliminary experience to address the challanges and improve the reintroduction plan
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raising awareness on threats to manatees and coastal ecosystems
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building trust and transparent communication with project stakeholders and the local community
Thanks to the collaboration with our partners, as part of our campaign, we are producing a documentary film “MANMAN-DLO” ("Spirit of the Sea” which is a Creol name for a manatee).
If our project correspond to your values and you would like to help us, please click here to find more about what you can do.
