Romeo and Juliet the manatees freed from Florida theme park following campaign

The 67- and 61-year-old sea cows have been at the Miami Seaquarium since 1956 and will be moved to a sanctuary

The decades-long captivity of two aging manatees in “ever deteriorating conditions” at a Florida theme park will soon be over after the intervention of federal wildlife authorities and a campaign by animal rights activists for the mammals to be freed.

Romeo, a 67-year-old sea cow, and a female named Juliet, 61, have been at the Miami Seaquarium since being “rescued” as calves in 1956, but will be moved to sanctuary elsewhere perhaps as early as next week, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) told the Guardian.