I bring you a very emotional story about the rescue of a Manatee Antillean (Trichechus manatus manatus).
It all starts when a Facebook friend (Nicolás) made a publication, in which several people tagged me, where he mentioned the need for an urgent veterinarian, since they had a wounded manatee calf in captivity.
Manatees are corpulent mammals measuring about three meters and weigh between 500 and 600 kg. They are called "sea cow" and have a fish-like appearance, like a thick torpedo, with front fins like oars and a rounded tail in the shape of a spatula. All these traits are evolutionary adaptations of the species to the aquatic environment. The back, head and belly are grayish. Its skin is finely wrinkled, 5 cm thick, usually covered with algae. His eyes, very small, are of limited vision, but his auditory system is well developed. They are herbivores and consume between 15 and 20% of their weight each day. It is distributed from the south of the United States to the mouth of the Amazon River, in coastal areas of the Caribbean Sea. (Source: http://animalesamenazados.provita.org.ve/content/manati-0)
I wrote to Nicolás and immediately we got in touch to go see her the next day, Mother's Day, to the Boca de Uracoa region, Mánamo spout.
I immediately contacted my veterinary colleagues from the Baradida Zoo in the city of Barquisimeto, with whom we created a WhatsApp group in order to coordinate efforts to save such a valuable specimen. I did not have experience with these mammals, but in that zoo they raised 5 manatees. Were also included in the group an adviser to the Manatee Rehabilitation Center of Puerto Rico and an advisor to the Vice Ministry of the Environment.
Nicolas is a tour guide. He works as a team with Clemente, an Indian of the Warao ethnic group, who was the person who rescued the baby Manatee. Apparently other Indians captured it with a spear or harpoon, and were using it as a decoy to attract the mother. In the region of the Orinoco River Delta, it is the tradition of these ethnic groups, to eat Manatee meat, however, it is also an illegal business and, being a kind of long cycle and low reproductive capacity, it is very vulnerable to hunting persistent, which together with pollution and habitat detriment, has led this species to be classified as "critically endangered" according to the Red Book of the Venezuelan Fauna. But to the fate of Chacha, Clemente managed to convince his fellows, who delivered her taking charge of her for several days. He had to feed it every 3 hours and change the water in the tank daily. There the children of the mister called her "Chacha" (diminutive of a girl).
On Sunday, after almost 4 hours of travel, we arrived at the place ... it was a very humble house and they had it in a very small water tank, which caused her injuries by rubbing on her delicate skin. Upon reviewing Chacha, I found that she was less than 1 month old and she had a wound 4.0 cm long and 3.5 cm deep on the right side, upper area of the fin, which coincided with a punzopenetrating object. We did not obtain information from the mother and we assume the worst.
His breathing was altered and she had no suction reflex, which complicated his feeding. They are aquatic mammals (Mammalia class and Sirenia order), for which this baby must have been suckling milk from its mother until almost 2 years of age, and because of its age, it was an exclusive lactating. However, he still had good weight.
I put it medication, I cured her wounds, I weighed it, I measured it and I left indications about his diet. However, Chacha needed daily medical care because of the severity of her wound and feeding every 3 hours, and I had to return to my city.
Chacha in her first medical review.
We were in trouble. Chacha needed an emergency air transfer to the facilities of the Zoological and Botanical Park Bararida, located in Barquisimeto - Lara and not on a whim. Despite the difficult situation these institutions face in our country, Bararida is the best qualified institution for this rescue. It has the team, the trajectory and the professionals with the greatest experience in this species in the whole country.
The following day (Monday) the staff of the Vice Ministry of the Environment moved her to the city of Tucupita, where they had a larger tank, but there was not a veterinarian nearby who could assist her.
That same day, Carlos (veterinarian of the Barquisimeto zoo) decides to go to Tucupita, after 18 hours of bus trip, he arrives to provide medical care. It had to be polled to feed her since she did not suck the bottles.
Meanwhile we created a group dedicated to the transfer of the baby, flooding social networks with the history, requesting collaboration from public and private entities, pilots and anyone who could collaborate. We had radio interviews and press releases were made.
The days passed and a satisfactory, committed and definitive answer was not achieved. In addition, many of the aircraft were occupied because of the unfortunate oil spill that occurred in Trinidad which affected the coasts of our country. (http://es.easucabdm.wikia.com/wiki/Derrame_petrolero_afecta_a_Venezuela_-_2017)
The recommended flight plan for the breeding was to take off from the Tucupita airport to the Barquisimeto airport. The possibility of transferring it by land to the Puerto Ordaz airport was evaluated, only in the last resort because of the stress it would caused to the animal. We had all the permits and documentation for the transfer of the animal and we're waiting for the final data of the aircraft for proceed.
Everything was for volunteering but if it was necessary to cover some expense, we were willing to have our resources for it. The life of that animal was worth much more than any material good. Her genetic contribution would be a reservoir for this species in such a critical state.
My cell phone was crazy. I received messages on Instagram, Facebook and other social networks, from people in Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, willing to make donations of food, medicine, money and any material necessary to help Chacha. I was also called by many officers of the National Guard offering their aircrafts, but there were eventualities that did not allow the flight to materialize.
Saturday came and I had a day of sterilization of pets ... then while attending to 60 animals that came out of surgery, I was coordinating with a private pilot, owner of a small plane, willing to make the necessary flights, and he was already in the Caracas airport waiting for the control tower order to fly ... for this we needed a special permit since the Tucupita airport is military, not commercial, and this required the search of the contacts ... in the end the flight was canceled due to the time and the impossibility of flying at night. Meanwhile, I had 2 more aircraft waiting for calls.
Finally on Sunday (one week after my first contact with her), at noon, we arrived at the airport in Barquisimeto with a very special load ... we managed to go from Puerto Ordaz, in the plane of a private airline (Transmandú - http://www.transmandu.com/), which without charge, carried out the work of transfer of the baby. The owners of the airline are wonderful people, with a lot of sensitivity towards the wild animals that did not hesitate to get in order as soon as they heard the news.
Chacha arrived at her destination!
However, the rescue work did not end there.
All breeding in captivity is in constant danger of perishing, and the health of Chacha was depleted by the wound and infection of it.
Already in the Bararida Zoo.
What further complicated the work of the caregivers of little Chacha was that she had not developed the suction reflex...
It sucked little and without much force, reason why it had to be assisted with feeding by sounding.However, little by little Chacha sucked for more time, giving us this beautiful image ♡
Another big problem we had was the country situation. No milk is obtained, of any kind, and she required a special milk.
At this point more anonymous heroes arrived, donating medicines, or milk for their food ... From France came several bags of special milk for zoo mammals; in Miami we had a volunteer recipient of the donations, who was in charge of receiving them and delivering them to other Venezuelan volunteers who came to Venezuela; From Panama, a boy brought antibiotics and several kilos of milk that he personally brought to the vet Carlos ... great signs of humanity that kept us in the fight.
Dairy formulas donated in Miami - EEUU.
Chacha was fed 5 times at day with a bottle, and weighed 26 kg. He gained weight, but his harpoon wound, despite being cured constantly, still persisted.Unfortunately after several months of struggle, Chacha was found lifeless in her pond due to acute intestinal disease, something common in this species raised in captivity.
Although the sadness overwhelmed us, the satisfaction of having done everything humanly possible to save it still fills us...
I will always thank each and every one of those people who gave their contribution in the case of the rescue of the Orinoco manatee, anonymous heroes who showed greatness of heart, who did not hesitate to help and deliver the best, for and for her...
And to the multidisciplinary team that every day was deployed for their health and care, my fraternal support and solidarity ... to them my admiration.
Chacha taught us that there is still much work to be done, many consciences to heighten, a lot of education to propagate, and that our debt to other species is very high ... so:
◇ DO NOT consume wild animals
◇ DO NOT have them in your house since they are NOT pets, and above all
◇ Denounces whoever does it ...
With this you contribute a lot in the Conservation of Biodiversity.
... For them it will always be worth fighting ...
This way we will remember you dear Chacha with that desire to live, that the unconsciousness and the ignorance of a few took you away ...
