Dave Bautista awards $ 20,000 bounty to people who disfigured a manatee

The world was shocked this week when a manatee was discovered that appeared to have the word ‘Trump’ engraved on its body – and no one is more disgusted than Dave Bautista, who placed a bounty of $ 20,000 on the official.

The former WWE wrestler took to Twitter to issue the award, telling his followers he would donate a large sum to find the culprit.

the guardians of the galaxy condemned what he called the “young MAGAT” who could be responsible for the cruel act.

“If there isn’t already a reward for the arrest and conviction of the lousy MAGAT who did this, I will pay $ 20,000,” Bautista tweeted. “And I promise there will be bonuses to this reward!”

When a Twitter user suggested that the person or people who abused the animal deserve a punch in the face from Bautista himself, he replied, “All I’m saying is that he there are a lot of Floridians who don’t like f * ***** people with our manatees. “

The animal was discovered in the Homosassa River in Florida over the weekend after its unusual markings were identified by boat captain Hailey Warrington.

Authorities have since offered a reward of $ 5,000 to anyone with information on the perpetrators.

A fact check of Newsweek found that “TRUMP” was not etched into the manatee’s skin but written in the algae on its back.

Although the animal is not seriously injured, harassing a manatee is a state and federal crime.

Dr Melanie McField, director of the Healthy Reefs Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Natural History, said the animal was reportedly immobilized for a period of time in order to allow the authors to engrave a word on its body, in what which she called “bio graffiti”.

“The authors would have needed to keep the manatee captive for a while to carefully engrave this word on the animal’s back. He probably would have tried to escape this confinement,” she said, adding that it ‘was “possibly very stressful for the animal.”

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, manatees are considered an endangered species. They have an estimated population of 13,000 inhabitants.

The Center for Biological Diversity said in a press release that it is offering a reward of $ 5,000 for information regarding the incident.

“Manatees are not billboards, and people should not play with these sensitive and endangered animals for any reason,” Jaclyn Lopez, director of the center for Florida, said in the statement. “No matter how this political graffiti has been put on this manatee, it is a crime to interfere with these creatures, which are protected by multiple federal laws.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said, “Anyone found guilty of breaking this state law faces a fine of up to $ 500 and / or jail time of up to 60 days.”