These gentle creatures are critically endangered with dozens being killed and injured each year. They need our help.

As of today, less than 700 Puerto Rican Antillean manatees remain, threatened by boat strikes, entanglement, habitat loss, and illegal hunting. Members of this critically endangered species who've been injured are brought to wildlife centers for rehabilitation before their release back into the ocean. These centers for manatees in distress are essential to preserving the threatened population.

Taiku and Dakiti, two orphaned calves rescued near Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, are now preparing to return to the wild after three years of rehabilitation. Taiku was just a few days old when she was found clinging to her mother’s body off Puerto Rico’s south coast. A jet ski had killed her mother—one casualty in a long list of threats facing the endangered Puerto Rican Antillean manatee.

Releases like theirs not only return individual manatees to the ocean but also provide vital data on behavior, habitat use, and ongoing threats—information essential for long-term conservation. That’s why Greater Good Charities is working with local partners to provide food and veterinary care for manatees, as well as their tracking and research after release to help gather additional data on the endangered species.

You can help Greater Good Charities in their work to help protect threatened species like the manatee. Manatee rehabilitation programs have a 96% success rate, meaning your support can make a powerful impact in rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing manatees back into the wild. Donate now to provide the food, veterinary care, tracking, and research needed to protect manatees like Taiku and Dakiti.