Diet
Although generally speaking, manatees are herbivores, the African manatee also eats clams, mollusks, and fish they find in nets. The majority of the diet of the African manatee is composed of many different types of flora found above or hanging over the water, instead of submerged. African manatees inhabiting rivers eat mostly overhanging plants growing on the river banks. The diets of African manatees living in estuaries consist of just mangrove trees. Each day, the African manatee will eat about 4 to 9 percent of its body weight in wet vegetation. Microorganisms in the African manatee's long large intestine (which measures up to 20 metres or 66 feet in length) aid the manatee in digesting the large quantity and variety of vegetation it takes in every day.
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