Columbus Zoo Rehab Welcomes Goober the Manatee!
Goober, currently weighing in at 365 pounds is now at the Columbus Zoo for rehabilitation.
Greetings! It gives me great pleasure in telling you my good friends at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio recently welcomed their second manatee in a month. Say hello to Goober the manatee! With the addition of Goober, they now have a total of five manatees in their rehabilitation center. Goober was transported to the Columbus Zoo from SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida after he was rescued on March 17, 2017.
The zoo’s rehab tank located at the Manatee Coast pool is 300,000 gallons. In addition to Goober, there are four other manatees in the tank; Aqua, Stubby, Millennium and Falcon, which are rare twins. Stubby could not survive back out in the native waters, so she is known as the surrogate mother caring for the other manatees. In fact, she was the first to greet Goober!
Becky Ellsworth, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Shores region curator said, “We have been particularly busy at Manatee Coast over the course of the last month. These manatee arrivals and departures are incredibly exciting for our entire team because we can visibly see the difference that we are making for the species as we help to rehabilitate and return manatees to their native range. We’re proud to be a part of the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership [MRP],which highlights the wonderful success and overwhelming need for these collaborative programs as we continue working together to help save these amazing animals.”
Belonging to the MRP, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is a “second stage rehabilitation facility that provides a temporary home for manatees until they are ready for release back to the wild. SeaWorld Orlando, the Miami Seaquarium and Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo serve as triage facilities and all manatees participating in the MRP go through these facilities for initial assessment and treatment, as well as for assessment prior to their release. When manatees in these facilities stabilize after being rescued, they are often transferred to facilities like the Columbus Zoo for further care so the triage facilities can continue to care for manatees with critical needs.”
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium made history when it become the “first program partner outside of the state of Florida and is one of only two facilities outside of Florida to care for manatees.”
And here’s more great news…
…You can find my Kobee Manatee children’s educational books available at the Columbus Zoo gift shop!
Here’s the Save the Manatee Club link to learn more about us manatees …
Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how we’re rescued and brought into rehabilitation …
~ Kobee Manatee
