Dugong
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ID#40
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Classification:mammal
Endangered Status: medium risk Habitat: sea grass, shallow coastal waters, and tropical seas The Dugong can weigh up to 880 pounds and can reach as long as 13 feet. Adult Dugongs are very robust. They have small eyes, and flipper-like forelimbs. They also have paddle-like tails, very short hair, and a slate grey coloring. They have a large rounded snout. The young Dugongs are almost identical, but they are smaller and have a pale cream coloring. Dugongs usually live on their own or in pairs. Most of the time the pairs include a mother and a calf. They eat sea grass, a lot of eelgrass, and algae. This means that they are vegans or vegetarians. They use their upper flexible lip to rip out the food from the ground. Dugongs are not diurnal; they swim during the day and eat sea grass because it grows in the sun. The age of first breeding is about 9 or 10 years or more. They only have one young, but there is no specific breeding season. It takes around 390 to 420 days of being pregnant. The breeding interval is 3 to 7 years. The young immature Dugongs are called calves. The calves stay around their mothers for about 18 months. Dugongs go under water to have their calves, then go above water so the calf can take his or her first breath. If Dugongs live in the wild they can live up to 70 years old. Unfortunately, Dugongs are in danger a lot. So many people hunt them, even though it is against the law. Dugongs are related to elephants even more closely than their mammal friends the dolphin and whale. The closest animal to the Dugong is a manatee. Another close relative to the dugong is a Steller’s Sea Cow, although they have already become extinct. People have said that there are 80,000 Dugongs in Australian waters. |
