Columbus Zoo welcomes three manatees as four head to Florida

Six rescued manatees landed in Ohio on Wednesday, Oct. 14, three of them bound for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell.

The arrivals were part of a coordinated transfer involving 10 manatees through the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership. Four manatees that had been recovering at Ohio zoos left for Florida on Monday, Oct. 12, headed toward an anticipated winter release into the wild.

The three newcomers at the Columbus Zoo are females named Celine, Poplin and Gingham, all transferred from SeaWorld Orlando, according to a Columbus Zoo news release. Celine was rescued as an orphaned calf in Martin County, Florida, in August 2025 at 48.5 pounds. She weighs about 420 pounds. Poplin, rescued in Volusia County in December 2025 at 101 pounds, is up to 304 pounds. Gingham, pulled from the Eau Gallie River in Brevard County in February at 133 pounds, weighs 317 pounds.

All three will share a facility with Stubby, a longtime Columbus Zoo resident who acts as a surrogate mother to younger manatees. Stubby is currently listed as conditionally non-releasable because of injuries from a boat strike.

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden received three males from SeaWorld Orlando the same day: Smidge, Tuglet and Zimomo. Kim Scott, the Cincinnati Zoo's curator of mammals, said the zoo is ready to begin rehabilitating the three new calves in its Manatee Springs habitat.

Heading the other direction, three females that had been at the Columbus Zoo left Oct. 12 for the East Coast Zoological Foundation's (ECZF) Manatee Rehabilitation Center at Brevard Zoo in Florida. Redrock was rescued as an orphaned calf in May 2024 at 49 pounds and weighed 528 pounds at departure. Rosalyn was rescued in December 2024 at 50 pounds and left at 624 pounds. Erie, rescued with cold stress in January 2025 at 110 pounds, weighed 648 pounds when she departed.

A fourth manatee, a male named Hundo, left the Cincinnati Zoo for Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Florida. All four arrived safely, the Columbus Zoo said.

DHL Express flew the animals between its hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and Orlando. Columbus Zoo staff rode along on both flights, monitoring the manatees in custom-built containers padded with an 8-inch-thick foam bed. Care teams used wool blankets, space blankets and laser thermometers to regulate body temperature, misting the animals' skin to keep it moist.

"Helping rescued manatees recover and return to their native waters is at the heart of our conservation work at the Columbus Zoo," said Becky Ellsworth, curator of the zoo's Shores and Aquarium region.

Since opening its Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in 1999, the Columbus Zoo has returned 45 manatees to Florida. The Cincinnati Zoo has cared for 38 manatees and helped release 31 over the same span.