The prototype mermaid has become functionally extinct in China
You may not be able to pronounce the word dugong, but when you see the picture you must know that this chubby animal, they are members of the order Manatee, a cute species that inspired the ancients to record the mermaid myth, but now they are also in danger, and even functionally extinct on the mainland.
Let me explain the functional extinction first, which means that there may be a few creatures in the region, but it is no longer able to maintain the need for population reproduction, and it is in a state of "not completely extinct now, but soon". Because after the death of these individuals, reproduction is impossible, and the species is naturally completely extinct.
In fact, scientists on the mainland have not found dugongs in the wild since 2000, but fishermen have occasionally witnessed them until 2008, when even the fishermen's witnesses were gone. Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Zoological Society of London collaborated to search four provinces in China where dugongs were originally distributed, but unfortunately they were still not found, so the results could only be published in the British journal Royal Society Open Science.
This giant beast, which can be up to 3 meters long, is quite gentle, and has only quietly nibbled on seaweed in the shallow sea all his life. Their personality makes them passively accept under the persecution of human beings.
Today, we're going to talk about this creature.
Dugong
Dugong is a marine mammal that is one of the four extant species of the order Manatee. They spread across the warm waters of the coast from India to about 40 countries and territories in the western Pacific, and are the only marine herbivorous mammals, as all species of manatees occasionally go to freshwater to live. They survive mainly on seagrass communities, which are constantly nibbling on seagrass in shallow offshore areas every day.
The body of the dugong is rounded and fusiform, with no dorsal fin or hind limbs, and the forelimbs or fins are paddle-shaped. It is easily distinguishable from other manatees because its tail is forked like a dolphin, and its nose is fairly lower, which is for better benthic life and convenient for nibbling on seaweed.
Adult dugongs are about 3 meters long and can weigh up to 450 kilograms, with females generally larger than males. The largest dugong found so far was found off the coast of Solarshtra in western India, and at 4.06 meters long and weighing 1,016 kilograms, it is a well-deserved giant beast.
Dugongs have a long lifespan of 73 years, so they also mature later, between 8-18 years old, while the first reproductive age of females is controversial, some studies believe that this age is between 10 and 17 years old, and some people feel that 8 years old can be. They can reproduce multiple times in their lifetime, but can only have 1-2 children at a time; During the breeding period, the male will mate with multiple females to ensure reproductive efficiency, and the female will take good care of the child until the child is sexually mature.
The dugong is not closely related to other marine mammals, but is more closely related to elephants, sharing a monophyletic group with hoofed rabbits and aardvarks. Several existing dugong populations are independent, and through molecular studies of dugong populations with mitochondrial DNA, scientists have found that dugongs in Southeast Asia and dugongs in Australia are derived from different matrilineal pedigrees, dugongs in Southeast Asia are relatively pure, and dugongs in Australia are mixed with dugong blood from Africa and Arabia.
But these dugongs have one fatal thing in common: they are hunted by humans no matter where they live.
Bloody dugong history
Dugongs are always slow, so they become the most favored prey, their flesh, fat, skin and bones are useful, but because these needs are substituted, so they are easy to hunt, but they will not be held on.
But in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, their fate is terrible, and you know why? Aphrodisiac again. People in these areas believe that their flesh has an aphrodisiac effect, so they are hunted and killed, and they are nearly extinct in these areas as early as the last century.
Dugongs are also widely hunted in Papua New Guinea, solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Because they are considered commonly used foods, and ornaments made from their bones and teeth are even used as part of traditional cultures.
In the south of the continent, the ancient continent has always revered dugongs, regarded dugongs as "god fish", and believed that hunting them was punishable, so they were the most numerous on the continent at that time. But after the 1950s, the theory of aphrodisiacs was transmitted by some countries in Southeast Asia, so they began to be hunted, and the rate of population decline was unbearable.
Falling in protection?
Now, in all of dugong's range, they are highly protected animals, strictly protected, and although poaching still exists, they are no longer the main reason for their population decline.
Leaving aside the problem of habitat reduction, dugongs are often entangled in fishing nets because they live in offshore areas, and although they live in the sea, they are mammals that need to breathe directly through the air; In addition, the collision of ships is also a nightmare for dugongs, and many countries are committed to developing tourism, which makes ships sail more and poses a huge threat to dugongs.
They have also been hit hard by oil spills and conventional pollution, and coupled with climate anomalies, red tides have occurred many times in recent years, and algae have taken up space for a large number of aquatic plants, which has greatly reduced the food of dugongs.
postscript
Although they are under protection, the threats they face continue to increase with the development of human society, even becoming more serious than poaching.
Dugongs are finally functionally extinct on the continent, which is a tragedy, once again revealing the conflict between social development and nature conservation, how to find the best solution to this question? It felt like these precious animals couldn't wait.