Manatee rescue and rehabilitation

In August of 2012 I was asked to travel to the Dominican Republic to help the authorities at the Acuario Nacional in Santo Domingo with the rehabilitation of a baby manatee.
She was refusing to eat from a bottle and this video shows the first time we were able to get her to eat in an horizontal position.
I did this by first holding her in a vertical position facing upwards and placing the nipples between my fingers and moving my fingers so that the baby felt the movement as she would feel from her mothers body. This video shows the first time we were able to get her to eat in a horizontal position.
Our mission includes helping local groups with animal rescue projects and expanding their capabilities, no matter where they may be in the world. I like to judge my success by not being needed anymore by the groups we help. The great people at the Acuario Nacional Were already very capable but with a few hints and modifications they have since gone on to rehab this and two other baby manatees to be able to release them all back to the wild.
Lloyd Brown
Wildlife Rescue of Dade County