Four rescued manatees have reached new care facilities in Florida after traveling south from Ohio on Oct. 12. Redrock, Rosalyn and Erie moved from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to the East Coast Zoological Foundation’s Manatee Rehabilitation Center at Brevard Zoo. Hundo traveled from the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden to Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens. The Columbus Zoo said all four arrived safely. They are continuing rehabilitation; this transfer was not a release into the wild. The accompanying U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo is a generic illustrative image, not one of these four animals.
Their routes into rehabilitation were different. Redrock was rescued as an orphan near Titusville in May 2024 at 49 pounds. Rosalyn was found in Cocoa Beach in December 2024 at 50 pounds. Erie was rescued near Cocoa Beach in January 2025 with cold stress and weighed 110 pounds. Hundo was rescued in Citrus County in March 2025 at 119 pounds, according to the Columbus Zoo’s account of the transfers.
Their published weights at the time of this month’s move were 528 pounds for Redrock, 624 for Rosalyn, 648 for Erie and 546 for Hundo. The changes mark a long period of growth and care, but their teams are still responsible for deciding when each animal is ready for the next step.
The move reflects a division of work across the manatee rescue network. Florida teams treat animals that are sick, injured or orphaned; once stabilized, some continue rehabilitation at partner zoos farther north. Florida Today reported that this helps open space at Florida’s acute-care centers, while Ohio facilities can provide room for longer-term care. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership as a cooperative network for rescuing, rehabilitating, releasing and monitoring manatees.
At Brevard, the three Columbus arrivals will remain under care until they reach a target above 600 pounds, according to senior conservation manager Becca Downey, whom Florida Today interviewed. The Columbus Zoo has described a possible return to Florida waters this winter for the four transferred animals. That is a goal rather than a scheduled release: the animals remain in rehabilitation, and no exact release date has been announced.
Moving manatees between states requires transport and animal-care teams to work together. The Columbus Zoo said DHL Express flew the animals between its Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport hub and Orlando, with zoo and SeaWorld vehicles handling the ground trips. Each custom-built container had an eight-inch foam base to support the animal. Care teams traveled with the manatees, used blankets to help maintain body temperature, checked temperatures and regularly misted them to keep their skin moist.
The southbound move was one part of a two-way rotation. On Oct. 14, six additional rescued manatees traveled from SeaWorld Orlando to Ohio: Celine, Poplin and Gingham went to the Columbus Zoo, while Tuglet, Smidge and Zimomo went to Cincinnati. The Columbus Zoo said those new arrivals would continue rehabilitation there. The transfers let partner facilities shift animals to the care and space available at each stage of recovery.
These moves build on years of shared care. The Columbus Zoo said its rehabilitation center, open since 1999, has returned 45 manatees to Florida waters; Cincinnati Zoo has cared for 38 manatees and helped release 31. The figures show how partner facilities can contribute to recovery before a return to the wild.
The four Florida-bound manatees each have a different rescue history, but they are now continuing care within the same statewide network that helped bring them into rehabilitation. Redrock, Rosalyn and Erie are back in the region where they were found, and Hundo is also back in Florida. Their progress will depend on their care teams’ assessments; for now, reaching their new facilities is a milestone on the way toward a possible return to native waters.
The image accompanying this story is an illustrative public-domain USFWS photograph. It does not show the transferred manatees or their transport.
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