After an arduous process of preparation of more than three months and a delicate transfer that began in the early hours of Sunday, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources successfully reintroduced to its natural habitat the manatees Juanita, Pepe and Lupita , which took several years to the National Aquarium.
This initiative began with a routine change in the feeding of herds, medical studies and concluded with more than three hours of relocation and placement on the coast in a controlled habit until it was adapted to this new environment.
Orlando Jorge Mera, Minister of the Environment, stressed that introducing these aquatic mammals in Bayahíbe is a historic fact, because it is the first time that the country’s environmental authorities have taken a decision of this magnitude that seeks to preserve the West Indian manatees ), species that are critically endangered. Rigorous transfer.
The mammals were transported from the National Aquarium under a rigorous safety protocol to reduce the stress caused by the movement of vehicles.
In the transfer of the herds participated in a multidisciplinary team composed of nine veterinarians, three biologists and several care technicians, who were pending the entire process. It is also accompanied by a specialist in animal cardiology and a dermatologist.
In addition, this process contains the surveillance of two units of the National Environmental Protection Service (SENPA) that were advanced to the trucks used for the transfer.
Permanent care
As it is a complex process that can involve risks, from now on the manatees will be in a controlled environment in Bayahíbe until they achieve their final adaptation, a process that is estimated to last several months because they have more than half of their lives in ponds of the National Aquarium.
To ensure that manatees are used to being in a different environment in the Aquarium, a fence was placed in the sea that will allow monitoring by technicians, veterinarians and 24 hours a day, in addition to · They will rent food until they learn to live again without depending on humans.
In the reintroduction to their natural habitat Juanita, Pepe and Lupita will be surrounded by a fence placed in the sea with 600 square meters of surface and about three meters of depth, until we learn again to live without depending on the humans.
The work of reintroducing manatees to their natural habitat was carried out by the Vice-Ministry of Coastal and Marine Resources headed by José Ramón Reyes, who coordinated with the staff of the National Agreement and the Dominican Foundation for Marine Studies. In addition, it has the support of the Reserve Bank, Fundación Propagas, Santroni, Grupo Inicia, Sur Futuro, Cervecería Nacional Dominicana, AM resorts, Playa Grande Golf & Ocean Club, Mercasid, Fundación Brugal, Central Romana, Dolfhin Explorer, Escuba Caribe , Dressel Divers and Eco Petróleo, companies that in both ways have contributed to the work of adapting the herds and returning to the sea.
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How they were rescued
Wound.
Juanita was rescued in August 2012, at just three months old, after a fisherman caused her nearly 10 injuries in the waters off Bayahíbe beach.
Dehydrated.
While Pepe recovered in that same year near the bank of the Haina river, San Cristóbal province, dehydrated and with several wounds.
Small.
Six years later, in 2018, when she was very young, Lupita was saved from a severe injury to her left side, in the municipality of Luperón, in the province of Puerto Plata. All three were rehabilitated in the National Accord.