Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Estudio del comportamiento de Manatí amazónico Trichechus inunguis en cautiverio (Puerto Nariño - Amazonas, Colombia)

2000; National University of Colombia; Volume: 5; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1900-1649

Delma Nataly Castelblanco Martínez, Enrique de Jesús Zerda Ordoñez,

Marine animal studies overview

The behavior of the amazon manatee, which is classified as “vulnerable”, has been poorlystudied. This research constitutes the first ethological study of one Trichechus inunguis. Theanimal concerned was a juvenile male held in captivity and bottle-fed with an artificial milkformula. The manatee was undergoing a long-term rehabilitation process for re-introducing itin to the wild. Ethological records during 149 hours in 2 different sized facilities were collected.Ad libitumobservations were used to describe behavior and events. The 30-minute recordingsessions were divided into 1-minute intervals. The first ethological catalog for this species wasdesigned, including 87 behavior patherns classified into 8 general categories. The studypresents an analysis of each type of activity for both facilities. Activity rhythm and the use ofspace by the manatee were also studied.