Manatees in aquariums and wildlife centres serve both welfare rehabilitation and conservation education roles. Their strict thermal requirements and social needs present management challenges.
Manatee welfare in captivity is largely defined by thermal management and diet. As cold-sensitive animals with few physiological resources to combat temperature drops, manatees in facilities without reliable warm water access are at serious welfare risk. Most US facilities that hold manatees for rehabilitation are connected to power plant warm water outflows or maintain heated pools — maintaining these systems is a critical welfare responsibility. Socially, manatees are tolerant of conspecifics and rehabilitation centres often house multiple animals together during recovery, which appears to support normal social behaviour. Long-term captive manatees (those that cannot be released due to injury or habituation) require complex environments with ample feeding enrichment — manatees spend much of their natural time grazing and without adequate feeding time, boredom-related inactivity can develop. The conservation education role of manatees in public aquariums has measurably increased public support for manatee protection legislation.