Date: Fri, 7 Dec 1995
Posse of game wardens gets its manatee

HOUSTON, (Reuter) - A posse from the Fish and Wildlife Service finally got its manatee, netting the wayward mammal Thursday as it swam outside a sewage treatment plant near downtown Houston.

The manatee first appeared swimming in warm waters discharged from the wastewater plant, and spent the past week plying the polluted waters of Buffalo Bayou and the refinery-lined Houston Ship Channel.

During an initial attempt by a crew of manatee experts flown in from Florida Wednesday the huge animal slipped under a 30-foot deep net and escaped into deeper waters. So, weights were added to the bottom of the net for the second attempt, and the manatee was lured back into shallower water with the offering of lettuce.

"I think we got him," field supervisor David Hankla said excitedly as the endangered manatee was rolled onto the muddy banks of the bayou, tangled in a 250-foot long net.

Known locally as Hou, the manatee turned out to be female and appeared to be in good condition when it was put in a specially built sling and lifted from the bayou by a crane, he said.

The manatee was quickly trucked to Sea World of Texas in San Antonio for a medical examination that will determine whether it came from Florida or Mexico, both hundreds of miles away. The manatee then will be airlifted home.

"You have to be prepared to modify your plans and react accordingly when the animal does something that you're just not anticipating," said Jim Valade, a Fish and Wildlife manatee expert.



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