The Amazonian manatee is the region’s largest mammal but is rarely seen, much less up close. The reasons for this are twofold: The manatee has acute hearing and will vanish into the murky water ...

Banner image: An Amazonian manatee in a zoo. Image by Chris Muenzer via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). You can’t see them to count them, but Amazonian manatees seem to be recovering ...

All three species of manatee – the Amazonian manatee, West Indian manatee, and West African manatee – are considered vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Environmentalists hope that by engaging local communities, Bacuri and others like him will be spared. The Amazonian manatee is the region’s largest mammal but is rarely seen, much less up close.

- May 2, 2025 CAXIUANA NATIONAL FOREST, Brazil (AP) — Deep in silence, as if under a spell, children watch intently as Bacuri, a young Amazonian manatee, glides around a small plastic pool.