Costa Maya, Q.R. — Manatee Pompeyo who was rescued as a young pup is expected to be released back into the wild this month. His caretakers have been monitoring his progress, ensuring he is healthy and well enough to be on his own.
Pompeyo has been in rehabilitation at the Center for Attention and Rehabilitation of Aquatic Mammals (CARMA) in the town of Laguna Guerrero of Othón P. Blanco since 2021.
After the latest weight and length verification, his caretakers say he will likely be released back into the lagoon sometime this month. It was in March when they began to talk of his release back into the wild.
Eduardo Ángulo Cab, ejidal commissioner of Laguna Guerrero, added that Pompeyo now weighs more than 70 kilos and has grown to more than a meter in length, which is up slightly from the 68 kilos he weighed in March.
“He has already been checked, weighing more than 70 kilos and measuring more than one meter. We are waiting for expert biologists to do another check to determine if he will be released since he already has his tracking chip,” he said.
Currently, the manatee is being fed seaweed so that he knows what to eat when released back into the wild. Ángulo Cab said that Pompeyo has not been socialized with humans to prevent him from being a victim of abuse once free.
