African Manatees

A mother and calf African Manatee, Trichechus senegalensis.  These gentle aquatic beasts can reach 4.5 m in length and weigh over a ton.  They live both in rivers and in the ocean close to the coast, found in most of west and western-central Africa, as far north as the country of Mauritania.  They eat both aquatic plants and the vegetation overhanging the rivers.  For grubbing around in the mud and uprooting plants, they use their fleshy, mobile lips.  They can also use their front limbs to bring food to their mouths.  They also eat some animal food such as shellfish, and will even eat fish immobilized in nets.  Females have a pair of nipples under their armpits.  Manatees are the closest living relatives of elephants!  They can live to the age of sixty years.  They're still fairly plentiful but suffer at the hands of humans from hunting, collisions with boats, and alterations to their habitats.