Editing Amazonian manatee (section)

==Illegal hunting==
[[File:Dead manatees circa 1920.png|thumb|Dead Amazonian manatees hunted in Brazil, {{circa}} 1920]]
The main threat to the Amazonian manatee is illegal hunting. They are hunted for subsistent and local use, not commercially. The hunting has led to the large decline in the population and low population numbers. Between 1935 and 1954, over 140,000 manatees are estimated to have been killed. Despite the laws in place against hunting, hunting continues to occur even in protected areas. Traditional [[harpoons]] are the most common weapon used against the manatees, but in Ecuador they are also known to be caught in [[Arapaima]] fish traps.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />

They are mainly hunted for their high value meat but the fat and skin are also used for cooking and in medicines. The meat is sold locally to neighbors or at produce markets. It can be illegally sold as sausage or mixira in public markets in Brazil and Ecuador. Mixira is a meat preserved in its own fat and is expensive which drives the hunters.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />

Between 2011 and 2015, 195 manatees were killed for meat in a single region of Brazil. In another region, 460 were killed in a protected area between 2004 and 2014.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />