They can be found in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador (the four countries that also house the Amazon rainforest).
Manatees make seasonal movements synchronized with the flood regime of the Amazon Basin. They are found in flooded forests and meadows during the flood season, when food is abundant. However, in the Amazon Basin, a manatee's habitat may not be much brighter than that cave, and, as a result, they do not rely heavily on their vision (which is also not very good) to guide themselves through the murky water. Therefore, researchers have concluded that their sense of touch probably plays the role of navigator, because manatees are covered in whisker-like hairs called vibrissae that trigger nerve impulses in the brain when moved.
In the Amazon, humans are the manatee’s biggest threat. In the mid-1600s, about 20 ships loaded with manatee meat were shipped to Europe annually. In the 1900s, a new era of manatee exploitation began by taking advantage of its skin to produce machinery belts, hoses, and high-pressure gaskets. During those years between 80,000 and 14,000 manatees were killed. Hunting for commercial and consumer purposes continued until the manatee was officially declared an endangered species by Brazil and Peru in the late 20th century. Organizations like CREA have worked hard to spread the work about manatee conservation to thousands of people in Amazonian communities, and, thanks to these efforts, the manatee has gone from being an unknown species to an emblem of conservation.
