In many areas, local fishermen claim that Trichechus senegalensis are responsible for stealing fish from nets. Reproduction Trichechus senegalensis is a poorly studied species, and much of the information about their behavior and reproduction has been inferred based on their close similarity to the very well studied Trichechus manatus .
Females are sexually mature as early as three years of age.
A female in estrus is joined by a dozen or more males. Gestation lasts about 13 months and usually a single calf is born at a time, but twins do occur occasionally. They feed from a pair of pectoral mammary glands. Behavior Again, the behavior of this species is poorly studied. They have few natural predators, and perhaps as a result they do not have a very sophisticated social system.