The Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday sounded a louder alarm for the Antillean manatee and called for its listing as endangered, while the related Florida manatee would retain its status as threatened.
Both marine mammals are subspecies of the West Indian manatee, which is currently designated as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. But after being prompted by conservation groups, the Fish and Wildlife Service said it has determined the subspecies face two different degrees of existential risk.
“For the Florida manatee, both the baseline and ongoing threats scenario future condition results indicate that the probability of Florida manatee extinction at 150 years is low, but substantial threats remain,” the Fish and Wildlife Service reported.
The Antillean manatee, though, shows “declining trends and isolation of populations” with the best available information indicating that “abundance is declining across most of the subspecies’ range,” according to FWS.
