"The Big Story" from Jennifer Kay at the AP: "Wildlife officials want to relist manatees as 'threatened' "

The manatee population has rebounded in a spectacular way and the status of the animal may be upgraded from "endangered" to "threatened". Here is an excerpt from the AP article:

     The population of Florida's iconic manatees has recovered enough that the species no longer meets the definition of "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act, federal wildlife officials said Thursday.
     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have proposed relisting the slow-moving, speed bump-shaped marine mammals as a "threatened" species, which would not change any current protections for manatees.
     "Based on the best available scientific information, we believe the manatee is no longer in danger of extinction," Michael Oetker, deputy regional director for the wildlife service, said at a news conference at the Miami Seaquarium, which has rescued, rehabilitated and released manatees back into the wild for decades.