'We feel privileged to do this work:' 3 manatees receive care at The Bishop Museum

Three manatees recovering at Bishop Museum

FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Three manatees are now receiving care at the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton.

It’s the next phase in their recovery process.

The backstory:

All three were rescued recently from around the state.

The goal is to release the Manatees once they’re nursed back to health.

Munching on lettuce, three young manatees continue to heal at the Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat at The Bishop Museum.

‘We have three females: Mandalore, Kyber and Crane. Crane is the older of the three, so she does act like an older big sister. Female manatees are very nurturing," said Virginia Edmonds the Director of Animal Care.

In February, Mandalore was rescued from Blue Springs as an orphaned calf.

Kyber, is also an orphan who suffered from long exposure to cold water in Crystal River.

Crane, rescued from Crane’s Bayou near Longboat Key, is now recovering from cold stress syndrome.

What they're saying:

"The two smaller ones came in. Rescued at the same day. They went into our pool at the same day. They have quite the bond. Where one is normally the other is," said Edmonds.

This has been a unique relationship with rehabbers and staff of the bishop in Bradenton. They have been with these three manatees since they were rescued.

"This year we had a temporary, unique situation, where we were able to, at an offsite facility, do the critical care. So the three manatees that are here are three animals that we actually treated ourselves and helped get back to health and then transferred them here. We have their complete story," said Edmonds.

The Bishop is a secondary care facility for manatees in rehab.

They’re also part of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership, a statewide effort to help Florida manatees as they face habitat loss, food shortages and threats from boats.

The goal is to make sure these three make it back to the wild.

"We meet so many people who had no idea this is a rehabilitation program for manatees and those are folks who live in Florida too and know manatees. We get to tell them the big picture story of all of that work. There are so many people who care for Manatees so we feel like we do the work for all those people who care. We feel privileged to do this work and help these animals," said Edmonds.

What's next:

Each manatee will have to meet certain criteria before they’re released.

The Bishop hopes that’ll happen within a year.

The Source: FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon gathered the information for this report.

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