The red caribena DE varamientos (caribbean stranding network) (RCV) has since 1989 been the non-profit organization deputized by the puerto rico department of natural and environmental resources…

The Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $204,973.44 Project Grant to Red Caribena De Varamientos Inc. (RCV) under the Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance program (CFDA 15.683). This funding supports RCV, through its Caribbean Stranding Network division, in enhancing its capabilities as the sole federally-authorized Antillean manatee critical care facility outside the continental United States. Key objectives include: covering 50% of salaries for rescue, animal care, life-support systems, and veterinary staff to improve manatee stranding response, rehabilitation, and veterinary care; acquiring essential rehabilitation and life-support system supplies; and improving existing facilities. This work aims to provide better understanding of the endangered Antillean manatee population in Puerto Rico and increase the quality of response and care for stranded individuals, ultimately contributing to species recovery.

The red caribena DE varamientos (caribbean stranding network) (RCV) has since 1989 been the non-profit organization deputized by the puerto rico department of natural and environmental resources (prdner) and the US fish and wildlife service (USFWS) to assist in tending to manatee stranding cases in puerto rico, and serve as the only manatee critical care facility outside the continental united states. While the west indian manatee (trichechus manatus), as a species, was down-listed as threatened in 2017, the antillean manatee (t. Manatus manatus) subspecies throughout its range and its population in puerto rico is still endangered by genetic bottleneck and a small population number. For example, while the population of the florida subspecies (t. Manatus latirostris) may be around 5,733 individuals, the puerto rico population of the antillean subspecies may only be between 312-535 individuals.recovery through actions that provide a better understanding of the status of the antillean population in puerto rico and increase the quality of the response to strandings and veterinary care during rehabilitation are needed to provide information to managers and stakeholders, which will ultimately contribute to manatee protection and recovery in puerto rico. The goals and objectives of this specific project, as detailed in one of the notice of funding opportunity priorities, are as follows. At this moment, the cmcc should focus on enhancing the capabilities of stranding response, increase response for manatees in distress and improve medical treatment and husbandry of manatees that are rescued in puerto rico. In the 2023 prescott RFP, for priority 1 (enhance capability of stranding response, including training, planning, outreach, and improvement of equipment and resource availability) the project objectives are: cover 50 of salary for rescue staff (rescue coordinator and rescue technician).for priority 3 (increase response efforts for manatees in distress in areas of low rescue capacity, including training, equipment and resource availability) the project objectives are: cover 50 of salary for animal care staff (husbandry technician, husbandry assistant).for priority 4 (improve and expand existing facilities for medical treatment, rehabilitation, and or necropsies, including build-outs, alterations, upgrades, and renovations) the project objectives are: acquire essential husbandry, rehabilitation and life-support system supplies. Cover 50 of salary for life-support systems staff (LSS) (LSS technician and water quality technician).and for priority 5 (enhance access for veterinary care, including on-site (lab or field) equipment or instruments for more rapid assessment of medical condition or monitoring of treatment response), the project objectives are: cover 50 of salary for veterinary staff (veterinarian and veterinary assistant).these five specific objectives are essential to improve, expand, and enhance the rescue, veterinary diagnosis, treatment, husbandry, and rehabilitation of antillean manatees in puerto rico as the only federally-authorized manatee critical care facility outside the mainland US. Historically, about 20 of manatee strandings in puerto rico are caused by watercraft collisions (mignucci-giannoni ET AL. 2000, bonde ET AL. 2012). However, in recent years post-pandemic opening of beaches and navigation, prdner data details that up to 50 of manatee strandings cases may be related to watercraft collisions (prdner unpubl. Data). Having available a fully operational and staffed rehabilitation center outside the continental US is of upmost importance to the recovery of the subspecies.