A West African manatee calf born at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom two months ago met the public on Aug 19 when she selected her own name from a lineup of Chinese cabbages with tags.

Feifei, whose name translates as Fat Girl, had "snatched" her mom's vegetable leaves on the 10th day after birth, and so the nursery staff selected the most-tender ones for her this time around.

The mother, Xixi, had kept Feifei fat even back in the womb. She was born in June weighing 32.4 kg after two hours of hard labor. Nursing 40 to 50 times a day, she now has grown to weigh more than 50 kg, which is equivalent to an adult woman.

In good health, the calf left the nursery tank after a month to join an already large family, according to Zhong Yifu, Chimelong's marine animal expert.

Manatee Exhibit

Feifei's brother Bill was born in Chimelong on May 8, 2018, the first such birth in captivity in China. The nursery team recorded observations and found two methods for pregnancy tests: nose bubbling and turning circles. The team's accuracy and mammals' survival rates are up to 100 percent.

There are now three males and four females in Chimelong's aquarium's manatee family. Another West African manatee is to give birth in September. This signifies a breakthrough by Chimelong in addressing the low breeding rate of the rare species and the facility may soon have the largest group of West African manatee calves in the country.

Feifei picks her name accompanied by her mother 

Manatee's voice is broadcast [Photos by Zhu Xi / Zhuhai Daily]