Manatee mission
Manatee mission
Mrs Laurence Beau, deputy head of mission from the Embassy of France to Singapore, and Mr Mike Barclay, group chief executive of Mandai Park Holdings, observing Kai and Junior before their transportation to the airport.ST PHOTOS: DESMOND FOO
Two of River Safari's sea cows do their part for repopulation efforts
Published1 hour ago
Audrey Tan
Two male sea cows from the River Safari set off on a 34-hour voyage to the Caribbean yesterday morning that could help save the rest of their kind.
Kai and Junior, two of the safari's 14 West Indian manatees, were put on a chartered flight to the French territory of Guadeloupe to take part in the world's first manatee repopulation programme.
The marine mammal, known locally in Guadeloupe as the "mother of the water", could once be found in large numbers there. However, they were over-hunted for their meat and can no longer be found there.
The hope is that Kai and Junior, as well as the 13 other manatees under the programme, could help repopulate the Caribbean region with their offspring, which would be introduced into the wild.
More:
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manatee-mission