Othón P. Blanco, Quintana Roo — A manatee calf less than a month old died after a boat struck it in the Río Hondo in southern Quintana Roo, wildlife officials said.
The female calf, which measured 1.28 meters (about 4.2 feet) long, suffered an extensive skull fracture that killed it.
Its body was taken to the Aquatic Mammals Laboratory at Ecosur’s Chetumal campus, where specialists performed a necropsy and confirmed the severity of the injuries.
The Quintana Roo Marine Mammal Stranding Response Network reported that this is the first documented fatal collision between a vessel and a manatee in the southern part of the state.
Several agencies took part in the response
The case was handled by the Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa), the Quintana Roo Institute of Biodiversity and Protected Natural Areas (Ibanqroo) and the Mexican Navy, with participation from students at the Chetumal Institute of Technology and the Autonomous University of Quintana Roo.
Teams also collected biological samples for scientific studies aimed at deepening knowledge of the species.
The calf’s death highlights the risks that boat traffic poses to wildlife living in the region’s rivers and waterways.
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