A female African manatee cub named Liya made her first public appearance at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Hengqin yesterday, according to Chinese–language media reports. The baby, who is already six weeks old, was accompanied in the tank by her mother, Lily, and a diver.
As the ninth manatee cub to be bred in Chimelong, Liya weighed 34 kilograms at the time of her birth and was considered to be large compared to the other manatee babies born in the theme park, according to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom’s senior conservation worker Liu Changping.
Liu noted that the newborn fed on her mother’s milk for the first time approximately 30 hours after her birth. She is also consuming small amounts of fruit.
The conservation worker also pointed out that Lily – a new mother – initially had difficulty rearing Liya and had to seek out help from her best friend, Gua Gua, a mother of three children.
“Lily was quite tired after just giving birth and her motherly instincts weren’t very strong,” Liu said.
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“Our diver would lead the cub to swim by her [mother’s] side and use food and companionship to guide Lily to rear her cub. This included the first time the manatee cub first surfaced up the water to breathe, which was done with our support.”
As part of the Liya’s public debut, the theme park organised manatee-themed experiential activities for parents and children that were aimed at explaining how these creatures are reared and the ecology of a freshwater environment.
Chimelong’s breeding manatee breeding programme has been a resounding success, with the theme park producing China’s first tank-born manatee back in 2018. The venue was also responsible for the second, third and fourth captive breedings of the aquatic animals in China.
This feat is all the more impressive when considering that manatees have a gestation period that can be as long as 14 months, with most births producing just one cub. After giving birth, female manatees normally have to wait between 2 to 5 years before bearing another child.
Also known as water cows, the African manatee is listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species.
