Senegal: Manatee necropsy in Bamboung
The carcass was an adult male manatee that appears to have died of natural causes (no actual cause of death was found, but there was no sign of hunting, and the carcass was found in a protected area where no hunting exists).
The local guys got creative rolling the carcass onto it’s belly in order to take accurate length measurements
Getting ready to take total length measurement. The manatee was 380 cm, one of the biggest ever recorded for Senegal! The only bigger measurement (400 cm) was taken on a carcass near San Louis, Senegal that was reported by Depuy and Maigret in 1978.
The entire group posed with Tomas and the manatee ear bone he removed from the skull, which will allow us to determine the age of the manatee.
After the necropsy, the EcoGuards offered to show Tomas 6 of the local springs where manatees are regularly seen drinking freshwater. There are over 20 known springs in this area, and we hope to further document their locations and manatee use in the near future.
Great work guys!!
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