River Safari Singapore’s Kai and junior set off on a historic journey to become the first two manatees in over a century to arrive in Guadeloupe as pioneers for the world’s first manatee repopulation program. At a farewell ceremony the day before, Mike Barclay, group CEO of Mandai Park Holdings, presented a special flight comfort kit consisting of the manatees’ favorite treats—high fiber pellets—to Laurence Beau, deputy head of Mission at the Embassy of France in Singapore, symbolically signifying the handing over of River Safari’s two male manatees to Guadeloupe, a French territory in the Caribbean. The journey to Guadeloupe took 34 hours, and Kai and Junior traveled 19,600 kilometers across the globe before finally arriving on Aug. 9 at 1:30 a.m. (local time). Under the Antillean manatee repopulation project spearheaded by the National Park of Guadeloupe, 15 manatees from zoos around the world will be sent to their historic home in the Grand Cul-de-sac Marin, a protected bay that measures 15,000 hectares and will shield the manatee collection from boating traffic by way of an enforced no-entry zone.

Landmark manatee conservation program. (2016, August 25). Manila Standard, p. D1.