Hi Christine,
Manatees are primary feeders (plant-eaters). They feed directly off of plants. They are comparable to ungulates like deer or cattle who are browsing or grazing animals. Unlike their land counterparts, however, manatees have no natural predators.
You may also want to go to the Manatee Info section of the Save the Manatee Club web site (www.savethemanatee.org) and go to the Manatee FAQ and Internal Anatomy of the Florida Manatee links for more information.
We appreciate your interest in manatees!
Sincerely,
Nancy Sadusky
Communications & Outreach Director
Save the Manatee Club
500 N. Maitland Ave.
Maitland, FL 32751
1-800-432-JOIN (5646)
E-mail: nsadusky@savethemanatee.org
Web: www.savethemanatee.org
----- Original Message -----
From: Christine Petro
To: 'education@savethemanatee.org'
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 4:33 PM
Subject: Why should we save the manatees?
Hi,
I was looking over your website, and it is not clear to me how to understand the ecology of manatees. For instance, how do they fit into the food chain? What kind of ecological functions do the serve in their habitat? Thanks for any information you can provide.
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