Laroc the Manatee to be Released from Zoo

From Rachel Nelson, director of public relations at Lowry Park Zoo:

With the arrival of four sick manatees in the first month of the New Year, Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo has reached another milestone at the David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Hospital. The Zoo has now taken in more than 300 manatees for critical care and rehabilitation since 1991, and of those 173 have been re-introduced into Florida waters.

Among the successes is an orphaned calf named "Laroc" who will be released in Homosassa on Feb. 4 after more than two years of care at the Zoo. Laroc arrived in 2010 as a 63-pound newborn from the Caloosahatchee River near Cape Coral where she was found alone and dehydrated, trying to feed on algae along a seawall.

She is one of the youngest and smallest orphan calves to be raised by the Zoo's manatee rehab team, and now weighs in at more than 700 pounds. She received a second chance at life because she was brought to the manatee hospital at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.

"This endangered species has been at the heart of the Zoo's commitment to conserving Florida wildlife for more than 20 years," said Craig Pugh, executive director/CEO. "A modern zoo connects animals in its care to wild places."

The most recent data collected by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in the winter 2011 synoptic survey counted 4,834 wild manatees in Florida waters. The survey method provides a minimum count of manatees statewide, but it does not provide a population estimate.

The Zoo's manatee hospital currently houses 10 patients who arrived with a variety of ailments including boat strikes, cold stress, orphans, red tide exposure and entanglement. In 2013, the Zoo has received:

*       A 248-pound male orphan with cold stress from Longboat Key on
Jan. 2 (#300);
*       A 400-pound female suffering from red tide exposure from Ft.
Myers on Jan. 13 (#301);
*       A 325-pound male suffering from red tide exposure from Bonita
Springs on Jan. 17 (#302); and
*       A 220-pound female orphan with cold stress from Pinellas Park on
Jan. 28 (#303).

Said Dr. Larry Killmar, VP of animal science and conservation: "As the only critical care manatee facility on the West Coast of Florida, we are pleased to have the capacity and expertise to make a meaningful contribution to the wild population of these treasured Florida species."