Talk about ending the year on a positive note. ZooTampa knows just how to end the year with a bang. At the end of 2025, they announced that they had successfully released 26 rehabilitated manatees back into the waters. Now, they are enjoying the Florida waters where they belong in the new year.
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2025 Had A Record Number Of Rehabilitated Manatees Returned To The Wild
A Florida zoo ended the year with nothing but smiles at its massive success. Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park achieved something truly incredible. Through their manatee rehabilitation program, the zoo was able to successfully release 26 rehabilitated manatees back into Florida waters.
Not only is that incredible for the manatees, but PEOPLE also shares that it is a new milestone for humans as well. These 26 manatees are “the highest number in a single year for the park” to be released.
While the number of manatees released is new, releasing rehabilitated manatees back into the wild is nothing new for this park. In fact, the zoo shared that it has cared for “over 615 manatees since 1991.” Additionally, most of those manatees are successfully returned to their natural habitat.
Real Life Success Stories
ZooTampa shared stories from some specific manatees that were successfully released back into the wild. Two of these rehabilitated manatees were Finn and Mudonna. Mudonna was rescued weeks after the devastating Hurricanes Helene and Milton. WUSF shares that she was trapped in only five inches of water. Additionally, she had limited food and was surviving temperatures that dropped as low as 30 degrees.
When she was rescued, she only weighed 345 pounds – a far cry from the typical 1,000 pounds for an adult manatee. Yet after her time with ZooTampa, along with assistance from the Florida Fish and Wildlife and the University of Florida Marine Rescue, she recovered. By the time she was ready to leave the facility, she was healthy and weighed over 700 pounds.
