Dugongs ‘live’ from today starring Miriam and Yamil
PHOTO: กรมทรัพยากรทางทะเลและชายฝั่ง
Be your own director, choose the camera and follow your baby dugongs live. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and TOT are running live trials for a livestream of the care facilities where the two young dugongs ‘Mariam’ and ‘Yamil’ are now living, one in Trang and one in Phuket.
The DMCR and TOT intend to provide a livestream on Facebook 24/7 so everyone can check in on the marine orphans’ progress. Check out the live link for Miriam HERE.
Meanwhile, veterinarians are working shifts to babysit Mariam, the 6 month old dugong on Koh Libong in Trang Province, say they are concerned about Mariam’s feeding behaviour as she nibbles on her flippers when she gets hungry at night.
Dr. Nantarika Chansue, director of the Aquatic Animal Disease Research Centre, in the faculty of Veterinary medicine at Chulalongkorn University, said that she was concerned about small cuts that have been noticed on her flippers, according to Thai PBS.
The team is observing her feeding behavior and think that the reason for the injuries is that she gnaws on them when she gets hungry at night. Dr. Nantarika said that a pond is being built for Mariam. Once it is completed, the vets will be able to feed her at night and they hope she will no longer bite on her flippers.
In order to ensure Mariam’s health and safety the vets perform regular health checks on her. She is reported to be feeding well and has been consuming more than three litres of milk and 300-400 grams of seagrass each day. Mariam has also started to feed herself on seagrass.
Last week HRH Princess Sirivannavari named the other orphaned dugong calf ‘Yamil’ . It was found stranded in Krabi on July 1. The animal was rescued by villagers and sent for treatment and rehabilitation by marine veterinarians in Phuket. You can read Yamil’s story HERE.
