Two of the River Safari's 14 manatees will be sent to Guadeloupe as part of the world's first manatee repopulation programme. The National Park of Guadeloupe aims to reintroduce the Antillean manatee, which has been extinct in the Caribbean island region since the beginning of the last century because of excessive hunting, through a breeding programme with an initial group of 15 manatees from various zoological institutions. Manatees, whose numbers have dwindled over the last century, are listed as vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.