The Antillean manatee was declared as a symbol of Costa Rica in terms of fauna since the animal was in danger of extinction. In this way, we wanted to get the hunt against it stopped.
However, up to now, the same problem continues. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the manatee is under great threat on our national territory.
For 2017, a study of the National System of Conservation Areas (Sinac), mentioned that only 17 of these animals were reported alive in the entire Northeast Caribbean region.
This has not changed, according to the IUCN. It is mentioned that there are 3 specific causes for which they are in danger of extinction…
The first cause is because its natural habitat is surrounded by a lot of pollution. The other one is because the speed of the boats; they travel too much and hit them. Finally, the hunting of these animals is frequent due to the high cost of their meat, considered as an exotic food in international markets.
