They are barely visible in the dark waters of the Congo River and were thought to be extinct. Thanks to a good awareness campaign, fishermen who accidentally catch a manatee in their fishing nets now come to hand over any of the animals to park rangers when once they used to sell Manatee's meat, but now they face 10 years in prison and a fine of 1,000,000 Congolese Francs. Some manatees have been released into the Congo River, others were unfortunately seized by the former Congolese president Laurent Kabila for his private zoo.