Volunteer Opportunities Belize Manatee Rehabilitation Centre

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Carers Urgently Required!! Twiglet...An Introduction Jamal Galves with Island Puppy (“Twiglet”) when first rescued (25/06/09) Linda and John Searle of Sea Sports Belize, who provided the logistical support for the rescue Twiglet has surface lacerations on her nose, flippers and tail, thought to have been caused by an encounter with sharp coral Rescued on the 25 th June, 2009, the manatee calf was initially reported as a potential orphan by Sea Sports Belize, having been spotted on her own in the shallow waters of Heusner Caye, near the reef east of Belize City. A local fishermen, Mr. Lambey, based from the caye, observed the calf for four hours, with no sign of the mother, at which point the Belize Marine Mammal Stranding Network, under Jamal Galves, swung into action. With the support of Sea Sport, the crew was out at Heusner Caye by 4:00pm, and after assessing the situation, quickly captured the calf and brought it back into Belize City, and, as night fell, on to Sarteneja. Given the official name of “Island Puppy” by Mr. Lambey (and known affectionately as “Twiglet” or “Twiggy” by the Wildtracks crew), this calf is a West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), a species that faces many threats throughout the Wider Caribbean, and is classed as 'Vulnerable' under the IUCN Redlist system. The Belize population is estimated at approximately 800, so every individual counts ‐ particularly females ‐ making the survival of this small calf a priority, with the emphasis on returning her to the wild population when she is ready for release. On arrival, Twiglet weighed in at 56lbs, with a tip of nose to tip of tail length of 1.18m, and was estimated to be between 1 and 2 weeks old. She requires 24 hour care, and is fed on Esbilac, a milk replacement formula ‐ like most young animals, she needs feeding frequently, so is on a three hour feeding rota ‐ both day and night. She is currently using two pools at the Rehab facility ‐ the smaller intensive care pool at night, and the larger recovery pool during the day. As manatee calves are very susceptible to cold, the water temperature is maintained between 28 and 32 degrees centigrade, and the pools are emptied and scrubbed down once or twice a day, depending on need. She has also just been introduced to the lagoon pool, where she has spent short, supervised periods exploring the mangroves and seagrass. We would like to express our appreciation to Save the Manatee Club for providing the milk replacement formula
What Does a Manatee Volunteer Carer Do? Hilmar Salazar working with Twiglet in the Recovery Pool Work is shared between volunteers, and involves all aspects of manatee care. This includes food preparation of the milk replacement formula, bottle feeding in the water, followed by clean‐up. Carers also spend time working with the calf, providing companionship in the water in these early developmental stage, and monitoring her behaviour. Other essential activities include emptying, cleaning, filling and maintenance of the pools – to ensure a clean environment, the pools are scrubbed down once, and sometimes twice, a day, depending on how clean the water is. Katie Dyke (Wildtracks, Belize) and Twiglet – introducing her to the lagoon pool The Lagoon Pool As the calf grows older, and requires less individual attention, there are also public awareness activities, increasing interest and knowledge among local stakeholders towards support for conservation of this threatened species. This includes visits to schools in the idyllic local fishing community of Sarteneja, one of the stakeholder communities of Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, established by the Government of Belize for the protection of the West Indian Manatee. Volunteers are also asked to help Wildtracks respond to calf strandings, should they occur elsewhere in Belize, whilst they are stationed with the Rehabilitation Centre. This call for volunteers is focused on covering the critical period from September 1 st , 2009 to March 31 st , 2010. Volunteers will be recruited from April onwards through Wildtracks partners ‘Global Vision International’ (www.gvi.co.uk). Wildtracks Volunteers – July, 2009
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Page 5 and 6: Past Manatee Rehabilitation Success
Page 7 and 8: Location Sarteneja seafront, overlo

Volunteer Opportunities Belize Manatee Rehabilitation Centre

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