What started as a fishing trip on Côte d’Ivoire’s Sassandra Riverbed turned into a manatee rescue.
Goué André Clotaire Gbagou, a fisherman in Ivory Coast, accidentally caught a young West African manatee while fishing. After realising the calf was too young to survive on its own, he took care of it. It now lives at a local wildlife enclosure, where Gbagou bottle-feeds it by hand.
Born Free USA, the Department of Wildlife and Hunting Resources and the Ministry of Water and Forests detailed the rescue and recovery effort in an email this week to Good Good Good.
“As of July 22, it weighs 25 kg, and the fisherman estimates its age to be two months,” the agencies said in a joint statement.
“However, the DFRC will monitor the calf’s progress and make the decision to release it at the appropriate time as soon as the animal appears to be outgrowing its enclosure and is feeding properly.”
West African manatees live in coastal waters, rivers and wetland systems across 21 countries, from Senegal to Angola. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists all manatees as “vulnerable” on its Red List of Threatened Species.
The agencies said there are currently no regional organisations focused specifically on protecting manatees in Ivory Coast, but the calf’s presence has “sparked keen interest” among local people.
According to Born Free USA, the Ministry of Water and Forests and the Department of Wildlife and Hunting Resources, Gbagou has been consulting other community members about setting up a grassroots effort focused on protecting manatees.
The DFRC has advised him to widen that effort to include other vulnerable species in the area, including sea turtles, dolphins, waterbirds and monkeys.
The agencies said fishing is the biggest threat to manatees. Officials recommended helping fishermen switch to eco-friendly fishing practices to reduce pressure on rivers, lagoons and waterways as fish populations continue to decline.
The government also sees ecotourism as a way to protect manatees and other threatened species.
“Ivorians enjoy vacations by the sea or near lagoons, as well as lake-based activities,” the agencies told Good Good Good.
“[We] suggest training communities in the promotion and practice of ecotourism, as well as the creation of pilot sites that include observation stations for specific species. This will enable communities to derive financial benefits from species conservation.”
“Authorities need support to halt the decline in the manatee population, caused by entanglement in fishing nets, and the destruction of their habitats, deforestation, mangrove destruction, plastic and chemical pollution, and siltation,” they said.
“The confirmed presence of manatees in these areas justifies the urgent implementation of conservation efforts to restore their habitats and populations.”
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