944 S. S. dos Santos et al.
TABLE 2 Home range size (95% kernel, km2) of four West Indian manatees monitored with telemetry along the north-eastern coast of Brazil, by season (dry or rainy), during 2016–2019.
Individual Astro
Mel Puã
Zelinha
2016 Dry
0.552 Rainy
1.001 0.216
2017 Dry
0.392
73.412 0.547
Rainy
0.851 1.503 2.969
2018 Dry
86.679 0.363 2.485 2.175
Rainy 8.127
0.528
35.152 2.431
2019 Dry
55.137 64.593 38.827 3.146
Rainy 9.025
20.764 63.138 2.461
TABLE 3 Total body length, weight (at last evaluation) and clinical data of six released West Indian manatees on the north-eastern coast of Brazil, 2016–2019.
Individual Astro
Mel Puã Tita Yara
Zelinha
Length (cm) Weight (kg) 309
255 278 218 255 251
457.7 334.0 398.2 204.2 251.4 316.8
Clinical respiratory symptoms
No Yes Yes No No Yes
TABLE 4 Monthly frequency of use of freshwater sources by three West Indian manatees monitored with telemetry along the north- eastern coast of Brazil, 2016–2019.
Dry season Puã Zelinha
1 2 2
11 8
11
4.4 4.4 5.7
Rainy season
Individual Min Max Mean Min Max Mean Mel
1 2 1
8
10 12
3.1 4.6 3.8
have been reported for north-eastern Brazil (de Lima & de Passavante, 2013; Normande et al., 2016) and Mexico (Castelblanco-Martínez et al., 2012). In Paraíba, all fidelity sites were located in the estuary of the Mamanguape River, and three individuals were not recorded in any other estuaries. This shows how important this estuary is for the species in Brazil. Animals with small home ranges and few fidelity sites may become vulnerable to the degra- dation of these environments (de Lima & de Passavante, 2013). It is therefore important to release manatees in pro- tected areas (de Lima et al., 2007), where suitable habitats are protected. Tita’s fidelity sites were located further upstream than
those of other individuals, reaching 10 km upriver. No other monitored individuals were observed close to these upstream sites, but fishermen interviewed by da Silva et al. (2011) reported the occurrence of manatees in the area. The differences in home ranges between seasons were non-significant in this study, but de Lima & de Passavante (2013) described seasonal patterns of manatee movements
Clinical gastrointestinal symptoms
No No Yes No No No
Traumata Yes
Yes Yes No No No
Treatment Yes
Yes Yes No No Yes
in north-eastern Brazil, with larger home ranges and more movement in the dry season. According to de Lima et al. (2012), these movements, occurring mainly at the end of the rainy season and during the dry season, are exploratory. In contrast, Normande et al. (2016) found no clear season- al pattern when analysing long-distance movements of manatees. In studies of Florida manatees, seasonal movements
were often associated with changes in water temperature (Deutsch et al., 2003; Flamm et al., 2005). In Brazil, waters are warm, with a mean annual temperature of .24 °C (da Silva et al., 2011; de Lima et al., 2011). In regions where temperature is not a motivating factor, seasonality may be motivated by the availability of freshwater and adequate habitats in the dry and rainy seasons (Reynolds et al., 2009). Availability of food sources is considered a deter- minant factor for habitat use by manatees in Brazil (Paludo & Langguth, 2002), but the triggers of seasonal movements are still not well understood. De Lima et al. (2012) suggested that food may not be the main motivating factor because these movements always start at a fidelity site where conditions are favourable for the animals. In a study of native manatees in the state of Piauí, areas of use were more strongly correlated with sources of freshwater than any other resource, suggesting that the distribution of manatees is driven by the proximity of freshwater (Favero et al., 2020). In our study, male manatees had larger home ranges
than females, as in Mexico and Florida (Flamm et al., 2005; Castelblanco-Martínez et al., 2012). However, Normande et al. (2016) found no differences in home
Oryx, 2022, 56(6), 939–946 © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S003060532100079X
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