The fight to save dugongs from extinction in New Caledonia
Photo credit @WWF
Dugongs, one of four species of sea cow, live near to coasts in the tropical Indo-Pacific ocean around India, East Africa, Malaysia, New Caledonia and western Australia. They are one of the most threatened species in the world. In New Caledonia, WWF France is fighting to save the endangered mammals from extinction.
Dugongs are herbivores, relying on seagrass that grows in shallow ocean water, a fragile habitat that is under threat from fishing activities and human occupation. They were also killed for hundreds of years for their meat and oil, consequently, it has completely disappeared from some countries, such as Taiwan. Furthermore, one of their closest relatives, the Steller's sea cow, has already been hunted into extinction.
“The protection of this species is an absolute emergency nowadays”, says Marc Oremus, coordinator of the WWF marine program in New Caledonia. Today, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) classifies the dugong as a globally vulnerable species. “This ranking takes into account the total number of dugongs globally, over 100.000 can be found in Australia, the second largest population, 7.000 dugongs, is found in the Persian Golf, the third is New Caledonia with around 800 species.
Several characteristics make this animal particularly vulnerable: their slow reproduction rate and presence near the coast. "It is an animal which is poached for its meat, which is very appreciated here, by all the communities", worries Marc Oremus.
Dugongs are tricky to study because they like to live in muddy water and they all look very similar to the untrained eye, so not much is known about where they travel and how their populations are structured. It is also difficult to get tissue samples from living animals.
In New Caledonia, the dugong is protected and its hunting has been prohibited since 1962. In 2010, an action plan was put in place to work for its conservation, despite this, its population is shrinking. Creating marine protected areas dedicated to this animal, reducing the speed of boats to lower collisions in certain areas, stepping up the fight against poaching and strengthening surveillance and controls, are all means to intensify the protection of this mammal.