Florida Manatees Eat Up Tons of Donated Lettuce
2022-02-24
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1Florida wildlife officials say manatees facing starvation are benefitting from a program that feeds them tons of donated lettuce.
2The program aims to save as many of the large animals as possible as water pollution led to shortages of their favorite food, seagrass.
3Officials say the human-caused pollution results from activities related to agriculture, waste from cities and other causes.
4The United States Fish and Wildlife Service oversees the feeding program, which is carried out near a Florida Power & Light power center on Florida's central-east coast.
5So far, the effort has provided the manatees with more than 25 tons of lettuce.
6Officials say the feedings usually draw about 300 to 350 manatees per day.
7Sometimes, as many as 800 show up.
8"We're making a difference," said Ron Mezich, from Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
9He spoke recently during an online news conference about the program.
10"It gives us the greatest exposure to the greatest number of animals," he said.
11Last year, a record 1,101 manatee deaths were reported, largely from starvation.
12The normal five-year average is about 625 deaths.
13State wildlife officials say that so far this year, 164 manatee deaths have been recorded.
14Tom Reinert is the local director of the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
15He is also a spokesman for the state-federal effort to save manatees.
16Reinert said the feeding program has helped to reduce the rising death rates.
17"We are adjusting our program to get as much food to manatees as we can."
18Normally, wildlife experts advise against people feeding wild animals.
19This is because it can lead the animals to make an unhealthy connection between humans and food.
20It is a crime in Florida for a person to feed manatees on their own, even though officials say many people want to do so.
21Reinert believes the best ways people can help are to donate money, through an official organization, or to report any sick or struggling animals.
22"Feed them with your dollars," he said.
23Officials estimate there are about 8,800 manatees in Florida waters.
24That is a big improvement from about 2,000 that existed in the 1990s.
25The increased numbers were responsible for manatees being removed from a federal endangered list.
26Currently, they are listed as threatened.
27Reinert said that even with the most recent die-off, there is only about a 1 percent chance of manatees disappearing in the wild.
28The most important element for supporting the remaining population will be restoring seagrass beds, he added.
29So far, Florida has set aside $8 million to deal with that problem.
30"You can't just go out and plant a bunch of seagrass," Reinert said.
31But, he added, "projects are getting started and are in the planning stages."
32I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Florida wildlife officials say manatees facing starvation are benefitting from a program that feeds them tons of donated lettuce. 2The program aims to save as many of the large animals as possible as water pollution led to shortages of their favorite food, seagrass. 3Officials say the human-caused pollution results from activities related to agriculture, waste from cities and other causes. 4The United States Fish and Wildlife Service oversees the feeding program, which is carried out near a Florida Power & Light power center on Florida's central-east coast. So far, the effort has provided the manatees with more than 25 tons of lettuce. 5Officials say the feedings usually draw about 300 to 350 manatees per day. Sometimes, as many as 800 show up. 6"We're making a difference," said Ron Mezich, from Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He spoke recently during an online news conference about the program. "It gives us the greatest exposure to the greatest number of animals," he said. 7Last year, a record 1,101 manatee deaths were reported, largely from starvation. The normal five-year average is about 625 deaths. State wildlife officials say that so far this year, 164 manatee deaths have been recorded. 8Tom Reinert is the local director of the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He is also a spokesman for the state-federal effort to save manatees. Reinert said the feeding program has helped to reduce the rising death rates. "We are adjusting our program to get as much food to manatees as we can." 9Normally, wildlife experts advise against people feeding wild animals. This is because it can lead the animals to make an unhealthy connection between humans and food. It is a crime in Florida for a person to feed manatees on their own, even though officials say many people want to do so. 10Reinert believes the best ways people can help are to donate money, through an official organization, or to report any sick or struggling animals. "Feed them with your dollars," he said. 11Officials estimate there are about 8,800 manatees in Florida waters. That is a big improvement from about 2,000 that existed in the 1990s. The increased numbers were responsible for manatees being removed from a federal endangered list. Currently, they are listed as threatened. 12Reinert said that even with the most recent die-off, there is only about a 1 percent chance of manatees disappearing in the wild. The most important element for supporting the remaining population will be restoring seagrass beds, he added. So far, Florida has set aside $8 million to deal with that problem. 13"You can't just go out and plant a bunch of seagrass," Reinert said. But, he added, "projects are getting started and are in the planning stages." 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 16We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 17___________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19benefit - v. to be helped by something 20exposure - n. the condition of being presented of made known 21adjust - v. to change something so that it works or fits better 22restore - v. to make something good exist again 23bunch - n. a number of things of the same kind that are joined or held together 24stage - n. a period of development or a particular time in a process