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Female African manatees give birth to one calf at a time after about a 13-month pregnancy. Calves can swim on their own at birth. Although the African manatee's social organization is not well understood, research shows the most common and tightly knit bonds are between a mother and her calf. [6]
The gestation period in manatees lasts for 12–14 months, after which they give birth to one calf at a time or, rarely, twins. [56] When twins are born, they are fraternal twins and are dizygotic. [60] When a calf is born, it usually weighs 60–70 lb (27–32 kg) and is 4.0–4.5 ft (1.2–1.4 m) long.
Manatees weigh 400 to 550 kg (880 to 1,210 lb), and average 2.8 to 3.0 m (9 ft 2 in to 9 ft 10 in) in length, sometimes growing to 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) and 1,775 kg (3,913 lb) and females tend to be larger and heavier than males. At birth, baby manatees weigh about 30 kg (66 lb) each.
By: INSIDE EDITION Gene Parker, tour guide and owner of Snorkel with Manatees, spotted a momma manatee with her newborn twins in Homosassa Springs, Florida, and he could barely contain his excitement.
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Manatee gestation is around one year, and then they lactate for one to two years. West Indian manatees and African manatees can breed year-round, and a female will mate with multiple males. [ 58 ] Amazonian manatees have a breeding season, usually mating when the river levels begin to rise, which varies from place to place.
Species that use a breeding season usually give birth during a specific time of year when food is available. [2] Various other factors can come into play in determining the duration of gestation. For humans, male fetuses normally gestate several days longer than females and multiple pregnancies gestate for a shorter period. [2]