Baby manatee dies

In a follow up to the story we ran in yesterday’s newscast about a baby manatee stranded near the Deep Water Pier in Belize City, researchers say their efforts at saving the mammal were unsuccessful. According to Nicole Auil of the Coastal Zone Management Project, the calf died around three thirty this morning.

When it was found floundering in the sea next to the Port Authority Compound Tuesday morning, the manatee, whose mother is believed to have been killed, was fed a diet of pedialite and soy milk to try and rehydrate it. Those efforts, however, seem to have been too little, too late. But in an ironic twist to the story, Auil says a post mortem examination could not be carried out on the carcass as when they returned for it at dawn, it had disappeared. There is much speculation as to what might have happened to the body; but using the theory of elimination, researchers say its highly unlikely that the dead calf was washed out to sea and therefore the best guess is that someone might have made off with the carcass. Auil says that if the dead animal was indeed removed by someone and is intended for the dinner table, the person or persons should know that the cause of death is not known and that the animal could have been suffering from any number of diseases.