In Search of 'Mamiwata'

Mamiwata is an African name for a spirit believed to be embodied by the manatee. This blog chronicles my search for the elusive African manatee, and my exploration to understand its biology, habitat and preservation needs, economic and cultural significance. So little is known about this animal, yet it is intensely hunted almost everywhere it exists and may already be gone from much of its previous range. In 2006 I was inspired to go find and study them, starting in Gabon.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Fingers crossed

Several West African countries have submitted a proposal to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) to raise the West African manatee to Appendix I, which will hopefully provide more protection for the species, and would stop the trade in live manatees captured for aquaria in Asia. I've spent the last 2 weeks working with the great staff at Species Survival Network on edits and corrections to the proposal and am now very happy with the version that has been submitted. If you'd like to check it out, click here (warning: it's only in French so far, but hopefully there will be an English version soon). Next week the proposal will be introduced at the CITES Animal Committee meeting in Geneva, and if recommended it will go on to the full Conference of Parties meeting next year. So we will have to keep our fingers crossed for quite awhile, but here's hoping it works!