Ilya the Manatee Safe in Florida, Recuperating With Hot, Younger Chick

(NYMag) Ilya, the manatee who swam to Cape Cod this summer, then prompted an October 27 rescue when he stalled in New York Harbor, is recovering nicely in the Miami Seaquarium and should be able to get back to the wild in three or four weeks, says his vet, Dr. Maya Rodriguez. "He probably lost 100 pounds, which in the manatee world is not too much," Rodriguez says. He's a big guy — 1,100 pounds and 293 centimeters (9.5 feet) — but exceptionally gentle, even among a species known for its docility. That's why Dr. Rodriguez can let him stay in a tank with an adolescent orphan female manatee named Glade. Other big male manatees would play too rough, she says, but Ilya just touches noses with Glade. Continued