Manatees in Xochimilco

More in this magazine

• Cover
• Page 2Long ago manatees lived in clean Chiapas rivers, far from the Xochimilco…. At the beginning of the 20th century a water lily infection that had been spreading through the canals since the end of the 19th century, there was no longer way to get rid of it.
• Page 3The authorities noticed the ecology damage and thought about a solution. So, they arranged theirselves with Chiapas authorities to bring some manatees to help clean the water.
• Page 4Everything seem fine, until Xochimilco’s locals saw enormous circular black shadows moving through the channels. The authorities hadn’t told them the manatees were staying there to clean the water.
• Page 5So the rumors about marine monsters in the canals spread quickly. They started to hunt the mammals without knowing they were actually helping them cleaning what they couldn’t.
• Page 6Unfortunately, the experiment was a total failure, no problems were solved. Due to the difficulty of the manatees’ digesting the tough water lily, they ate other plants and the plague got worse.
• Page 7References: Garrido, D. (2023, mayo 24). ¿Había manatíes en el lago de Xochimilco? Architectural Digest. https://www.admagazine.com/articulos/esta-es-lahistoria-de-los-manaties-que-vivian-en-xochimilco