{"id":500197,"date":"2026-01-08T01:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/500197\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T01:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:14:11","slug":"zootampa-released-26-rehabilitated-manatees-back-into-florida-waters-in-2025-the-most-on-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/500197\/","title":{"rendered":"ZooTampa Released 26 Rehabilitated Manatees Back into Florida Waters in 2025\u2013the Most on Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Mudonna the manatee on route to the wild \u2013 credit, ZooTampa<\/p>\n

2025 was a big year for one of Florida\u2019s premier manatee rescue organizations.<\/p>\n

ZooTampa<\/a> released 26 rehabilitated manatees back into Florida waters in 2025\u2014the highest number in its long history.<\/p>\n

The accomplishment, the zoo stated, underscores its pivotal role in conserving this iconic species and its role within the manatee rescue network in the state.<\/p>\n

These graceful marine mammals are a Florida icon, but nevertheless vulnerable to being struck by boats, and displacement from habitat loss. Every year, dozens of wounded manatees are rescued by organizations like ZooTampa.<\/p>\n

The zoo\u2019s David Straz Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center, the largest nonprofit facility of its kind in the US, has cared for over 615 manatees since 1991, with the majority successfully returned to their natural habitat.<\/p>\n

The manatee rescue, rehabilitation, and release program costs the zoo $2 million a year, and consists of an expert team of veterinarians, including two US Fish and Wildlife Service-certified manatee critical care veterinarians, and animal care professionals.<\/p>\n

ALSO CHECK OUT: <\/strong>1,000 Manatees Converge on Florida State Park to Keep Warm in Record-Breaking Sighting<\/a><\/p>\n

The program could never be more needed, as it\u2019s estimated that of the over 620 manatees died in across Florida waters in 2025, 97 were from boat strikes.<\/p>\n

In spring 2026, ZooTampa will unveil the Straz Family Manatee Rescue, a state-of-the-art facility that will offer visitors immersive, eye-level underwater views of manatees, providing a unique opportunity to witness the zoo\u2019s life-saving efforts firsthand.<\/p>\n

MORE MANATEE NEWS: <\/strong>Struggling Manatee Was Close to Dying but Florida Deputy Held it Afloat for 2 Hours<\/a><\/p>\n

Visitors can see life-saving care in real time in the soon-to-be-five critical care pools where the floors raise up to bring manatees out of the water for their medical treatments. They can also watch manatees in two naturalistic rehabilitation pools as they continue to get ready to be released back into the wild.<\/p>\n

SHARE This Great Organization And Its Work Saving These Sea Cows\u2026\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mudonna the manatee on route to the wild \u2013 credit, ZooTampa 2025 was a big year for one…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":500198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[3425,723,3610,159,25852,67,132,68,837,4286],"class_list":{"0":"post-500197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-rehabilitation","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-success","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-wildlife","17":"tag-zoos"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115856832151048082","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}