{"id":245055,"date":"2026-04-24T17:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/245055\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:36:10","slug":"zootampa-hosting-first-manatee-conservation-celebration-may-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/245055\/","title":{"rendered":"ZooTampa hosting first manatee conservation celebration May 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 ZooTampa at Lowry Park<\/a> will host its first Manatee Conservation Celebration on May 2, giving visitors a full day of family activities focused on protecting one of Florida\u2019s most recognizable marine animals.<\/p>\n

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is included with general admission, zoo memberships and Zoo Fun Tickets.<\/p>\n

Zoo officials said the event will combine entertainment and education, with live music, local vendors, giveaways, interactive presentations and activities for children, including a mock manatee release and community art station.<\/p>\n

Visitors will also be able to meet members of the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership, a coalition of groups involved in rescuing and rehabilitating injured manatees.<\/p>\n

The event includes behind-the-scenes tours of the zoo\u2019s manatee rescue area and the David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center, where rescued manatees receive treatment.<\/p>\n

ZooTampa officials said the celebration also will debut Manatee Rescue Lager, a collaboration with Coppertail Brewing Co., with part of the proceeds supporting conservation work.<\/p>\n

As boating activity increases heading into summer, organizers said part of the event\u2019s focus will be on safe boating practices aimed at preventing manatee injuries.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

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TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 ZooTampa at Lowry Park will host its first Manatee Conservation Celebration on May 2, giving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[147,145,28,139,135,137,136,144,146,1680,107925],"class_list":{"0":"post-245055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-central-florida","9":"tag-channel-9","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-orlando","12":"tag-tampa","13":"tag-tampa-headlines","14":"tag-tampa-news","15":"tag-wftv","16":"tag-wftv-channel-9","17":"tag-zootampa","18":"tag-zootampa-manatee-event"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}