This legislation, known as the Manatee Protection Act of 2025 , aims to officially designate the West Indian manatee ( Trichechus manatus ) as an endangered species. The bill explicitly mandates that, regardless of any other legal provisions, the West Indian manatee shall be treated as an endangered species for the purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 . Furthermore, it requires the Secretary of the Interior to include this species on the official endangered species list published under section 4(c) of that Act.