Mar 4, 2007 12:50 pm US/Eastern
Mo The Manatee Almost Ready For Full Release
jm/ap
Crystal River, Fla. (CBS4) ―
Mo the manatee might make it in the wild after all.
"Mo, who has spent time in almost every Florida facility that rehabilitates manatees, is showing signs he has finally figured out how to survive in the wild," said Monica Ross, a Wildlife Trust scientist who has been tracking Mo since his latest release in August 2005, "We're kind of proud of him."
Mo was originally captured in 1994 as an orphan and raised by humans. The wayward manatee got "seriously lost" after his first release in 1998 and ended up far from shore in the Dry Tortugas, according to his biography on the Wildlife Trust Web site.
He was released again in 2002, but nearly starved and got hit by a boat before he was recaptured. The manatee may not have had a knack for survival, but scientists said he has proven himself very adept as escaping his routine checkups.
They even tried to recapture him in December after he showed signs of weight loss. He slipped away and started eating better.
Now researchers observing the 1,100-pound sea cow in the wild say he seems to have maintained a good body weight and, if all goes well, they'll remove a tracking device after his next successful checkup.
"It's really hard to tell what worked for him this time," Ross said. "But he did learn something more from each time he was released."
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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