Throughout the Amazon, the aquatic mammal suffers from illegal hunting and is at risk of extinction. For this reason, Peru has created the Amazon Rescue Centre - CREA, an institution in the department-state of Loreto, located in the north-eastern Amazon region of the country. The centre's objectives are to provide adequate care for manatees, develop a rescue, rehabilitation and release programme for these mammals in the territory, and carry out an environmental education programme to raise awareness among tourists and local residents. "Manatees are also important because they are biological controllers of aquatic plants. Every time they eat the plants they clean the water system. Before they eat large quantities of plants, twenty or thirty kilos, gain a lot of weight, between 60 and 80 kilos in years, they are placed in the pre-release area, a final stage to adapt to a natural environment. And these animals may already be released into the wild," said biologist Juan Sanches Babilônia.

Source: Amazon Agency