How Do Manatees Feed Their Young?

Manatees are also known as dugongs and are commonly found around Florida, where they migrate every year. They are typically a solitary creature, but the bond between a mother and her calf is very strong and the calf will usually stay with the mother for two to three years. When traveling from place to place, manatees typically form a single file line, but with calves present, the calf will generally swim right beside the mother. Female manatees typically do not reproduce again until their current calf is old enough to be on its own, making these animals slow to bring up their numbers. Because of this and their slow-moving nature, there has been a lot of pro-active help in maintaining and increasing their numbers in and around Florida. When feeding, manatees use their front flippers to bring plants up to their mouth, but when it comes to feeding a calf, as with all mammals, the calf nurses on its mother's milk.

Mating and Reproduction

Manatees are slow to reproduce and males reach sexual maturity at seven to nine years of age and females at three years of age. When a female manatee is in estrus, or ready to mate, she is usually surround by a herd of males, forming a mating herd. The female can be pursued by the males for several weeks. The female will mate with several of the males, and bonds are not formed between the male and female manatees. Females are pregnant for approximately 12 month.

Birth

When it comes time to delivering her calf, the mother will seek a quiet, secluded area. This will enable her to focus on the calf and protect it from predators. A single calf is born to a female and she will reproduce once every two to five years, if the calf survives. Manatees that have twin calves are a very rare occurrence. At birth, the baby manatee is approximately 4 to 4.5 feet in length and will weigh about 60 to 70 lbs. Unlike most animals that are born a certain way each and every time, manatee calves can be born either head or tail first.

Caring for the Calf

Manatee calves are able to swim to the surface on their own immediately following their birth, with the mother swimming nearby. The calf will also begin to vocalize soon after, initiating the bonding process between mother and calf. Feeding is done underwater and the calf will suckle at her mother's teats within a few hours of birth. The teats are located under the pectoral fins of the mother. Within a few weeks, the calf will begin to nibble on plants to supplement the mother's milk. The calf will nurse frequently and at longer times in order to become proficient at eating. The calf will stay with her mother for up to two years, learning about feeding, resting areas, migration paths and any warm water refuges that the herd utilizes. The mother will generally wean her calf from nursing after the calf becomes a year old.