Second manatee found dead
Conservationists in Colombia convened urgent talks after a second Antillean manatee died in four days at Ciénaga San Silvestre, prompting criticism that attention is focused elsewhere. Local reposts of the incident drew community concern and calls for investigation. (x.com)
A second Antillean manatee was found dead in Colombia’s Ciénaga San Silvestre on April 15, four days after a calf was discovered in the same wetland. (vanguardia.com) Fishermen reported the latest carcass near the Club Náutico sector in Barrancabermeja, and local officials said the animal was an adult male. Barrancabermeja’s environment office said a necropsy would be used to determine the cause of death. (vanguardia.com, ambientarteradio.com) The first animal, a neonate about 1.40 meters long, was found on April 11 in Kikelandia, a sector of the same lagoon complex. Vanguardia reported that the carcass appeared in an area affected by a fuel spill in October 2025. (vanguardia.com) San Silvestre is not a remote pond. Local media and the Barrancabermeja administration describe it as a strategic wetland and a key water source for the city, which has put the deaths at the center of a wider fight over contamination and restoration. (enlacetelevision.com, elfrente.com.co) Officials and community groups are also treating the deaths as part of a longer pattern. Blu Radio reported 17 manatee deaths in the San Silvestre and El Llanito wetlands over the past seven years, while Barrancabermeja officials told local outlets the latest case pushed 2026’s total to three. (bluradio.com, qhubobucaramanga.com) The species itself is scarce. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service says the Antillean manatee is a subspecies of the West Indian manatee and that the best available information points to fewer than 7,000 in the wild, with declines across much of its range. (fws.gov) Researchers have already documented repeated strandings and emergencies for Antillean manatees in Colombia’s middle Magdalena basin. A 2011-2023 review published in the Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals analyzed reported stranding events in the region, underscoring how often local communities are the first to spot animals in trouble. (lajamjournal.org, news.mongabay.com) The pollution dispute around San Silvestre predates this week’s deaths. After an October 2025 hydrocarbon spill, a judge ordered Cenit, an Ecopetrol subsidiary, to present a restoration plan for the wetland, according to Blu Radio. (bluradio.com) Barrancabermeja officials have publicly linked the manatee deaths to hydrocarbon contamination, while earlier reporting on the 2025 spill said traces of hydrocarbons were tied to an illegal valve installed by unknown third parties on a pipeline operated by Cenit. Those are competing explanations for the source of contamination, not yet a confirmed necropsy finding in the April deaths. (bluradio.com, valoraanalitik.com) For now, the next concrete step is the necropsy on the adult male and the official investigation around the April 11 and April 15 deaths. In Barrancabermeja, that process is unfolding under pressure from fishermen, environmental groups, city officials and residents who have been posting images and demands for answers since the second carcass surfaced. (ambientarteradio.com, vanguardia.com)
