The Aquatic Mammals Laboratory at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) works mainly with young manatees rescued in the region. The vast majority are orphans and victims of illegal hunting. The institute has a nursery for cubs up to two years old, where they receive the necessary care and are breastfed with a formulation developed by Inpa, based on the characteristics of the species' own milk. They are then taken to the tanks reserved for the young and adult animals, which are already feeding on vegetables such as cabbage, pumpkin and string beans and aquatic plants collected in the wild such as water lettuce and membeca grass. The manatee is on the list of endangered species and its hunting has been banned since 1967.

Source: Amazon Agency