Snooty the Manatee

Like humans, many aquatic mammals are capable of having very long life spans, but not all of them are whales.

Photo credit: University of Illinois

Meet Snooty, the oldest known manatee in the world. Snooty was born in captivity on July 21st, 1948, making him 63 years old today. He has been a resident of the South Florida Museum’s Parker Manatee Aquarium for most of his life and has shared his tank with many other manatees while they rehabilitate before returning to the wild.

Snooty is one of the few manatees in the world that is allowed to have prolonged direct contact with his human caretakers. Unlike other manatees, Snooty has lived his whole life in captivity and is now considered too old to ever live in the wild, so human contact is allowed. A prime example of the intelligence of these animals, Snooty is able to recognize the voices of his handlers past and present, and can even remember tricks he learned at only one year old.

For more information on Snooty, you can visit his webpage; if you’re looking for great manatee gifts, you can find them at the Jungle Store!