A necropsy of Hugh the manatee at a Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida, revealed that the marine mammal died from a ruptured colon attributable to “mating behavior” along with his brother, Buffett.

The necropsy revealed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week revealed that the smaller however older 38-year-old Hugh suffered a 14.5-centimeter rip in his colon. 

On April 29, the day Hugh died, aquarium employees “observed high-intensity sexual behavior between two adult male manatees, which resulted in rectal penetration of the smaller male, at approximately 10 a.m. Shortly after this interaction, employees collected a fecal sample from the smaller male and confirmed the presence of fresh blood,” the necropsy learn, as cited by WWSB-TV.

The brother manatees engaged on this habits in bursts interspersed with resting over the course of the day. Following one remaining encounter at 5:15 p.m., after which the bigger Buffett swam away, Hugh was discovered unresponsive on the backside of the pool.

He was then confirmed useless.

The pair, who have been born on the Miami Seaquarium within the Eighties, had lived on the Mote Marine facility since 1996.

The USDA report contended that “the facility failed to handle Hugh expeditiously and as carefully as possible to prevent trauma and physical harm, resulting in the death of the animal.”

Mote Marine is now interesting the report.

In a press release Tuesday, the aquarium stated that it had adopted protocols and greatest practices established by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership.

April 29 was, in response to employees, the primary time the 2 had exhibited mating behaviors, which had precedent in different manatee specimens that had been noticed elsewhere.

“Hugh and Buffett engaged in natural, yet increased, mating behavior observed and documented in manatees both in managed care and in the wild. This was the first time such heightened mating behavior was witnessed between the two manatees,” the aquarium’s assertion learn.

The assertion additionally contended that neither manatee exhibited indicators of misery, equivalent to itemizing or energetic avoidance of the opposite, that might have necessitated intervention by handlers. Separation, Mote Marine claimed, had beforehand brought on anxiousness within the animals.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture had additionally permitted the ability in an inspection carried out only a week earlier than Hugh’s loss of life, aquarium officers famous.

“In fact, a week prior to this devastating incident, the USDA performed an annual inspection, and our staff was recognized by the USDA for the high quality of care provided to our manatees,” Mote Marine employees stated of their assertion.

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