Fisherman finds dead dugong in Krabi

In a tragedy for Thailand’s animal lovers, a fisherman found a dead dugong in the southern Krabi province on Sunday. The fisherman found the dugong in the sea and pulled it up onto a pier.

A consultant of the Krabi Fishermen Association said the dugong was a male, and around three years old. He said it weighed 100 kilograms and was 1.5 metres long.

The dugong was not found to have any severe injuries, The Phuket Express reported. The area where it was found dead had lots of seagrass, dugongs’ main food.

The poor dugong was believed to have died about 24 hours before it was found. An autopsy is being conducted to identify the cause of death.

Dugongs, sometimes called sea cows, are known as cousins of manatees. They are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Like many of Thailand’s sea animals, dugongs have been killed by pollution in the past. In 2019, two stranded dugong calves were rescued by the DMCR but sadly both died the same year from infections relating to ingesting plastic. The tragedy led to government initiatives to improve conservation policies and address marine plastic pollution.

Thailand struggles to protect its wildlife from human activities. This is particularly true of major tourist hotspots. Last month, a plastic cup was found in the stomach of a dead Bruda whale in Phuket.

In July, a striped dolphin died after beaching itself in Patong despite local rescuers’ best efforts. The dolphin had sustained severe injuries on the lower section of its tail fin.

Whatever the cause of its death, the dugong in Krabi is the latest of Thailand’s wildlife tragedies.