# Dugong — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Dugong dugon*

> A dugong is a large, plant-eating marine mammal of the order Sirenia (the "sea cows"), reaching about 3 metres long, that lives entirely in warm coastal seas and feeds almost exclusively on seagrass.

**IUCN status:** Vulnerable globally — but Critically Endangered in East Africa and Japan's Nansei Islands, and Endangered in New Caledonia  ·  **WARN range:** Indonesia, Malaysia

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Lifespan | ~70 years (oldest recorded 73) |
| Weight | Typically 250–400 kg; max ~1,016 kg |
| Length | Up to about 3 m |
| Diet | Herbivore — almost entirely seagrass |
| Gestation | 13–15 months |
| Young per birth | Usually 1 calf |
| Calving interval | Roughly every 2.4–7 years |
| Top speed | ~10 km/h (about 3 m/s) |
| Baby name | Calf |
| Group name | Herd (often solitary or in pairs) |
| CITES | Appendix I (Australian population on Appendix II) |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Mammalia
- **Order:** Sirenia
- **Family:** Dugongidae
- **Genus:** Dugong
- **Species:** Dugong dugon (Müller, 1776)

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Vulnerable (IUCN Red List)
- **Population:** No reliable global estimate; population decreasing. Northern Australia holds the largest numbers, while many Southeast Asian populations are small and poorly counted.
- **Trend:** Decreasing
- **Assessed:** 2019 (Marsh & Sobtzick; criteria A2bcd+4bcd)
- **CITES:** Appendix I (all populations except the Australian population, which is on Appendix II)
- The global Vulnerable rating masks far higher local risk: subpopulations are assessed Critically Endangered in East Africa and Japan's Nansei Islands and Endangered in New Caledonia.

## Key facts: Dugong
- The dugong is the only living member of the family Dugongidae and the only marine mammal that feeds almost entirely on plants — seagrass.
- It is globally Vulnerable, but several subpopulations are far worse off: Critically Endangered in East Africa and Japan's Nansei Islands and Endangered in New Caledonia.
- Unlike its manatee cousins, the dugong has a dolphin-like fluked tail and a sharply downturned snout built for grazing the seabed.
- Bycatch in gillnets and the loss of seagrass meadows to coastal development and pollution are the leading threats across Indonesia and Malaysia.
- Dugongs breed slowly — one calf every few years after 13–15 months' gestation — so populations recover very slowly from losses.
- Long associated with mermaid and 'lady of the sea' legends, the dugong belongs to the order Sirenia, named for the Sirens of myth.

## Why the dugong is threatened
The IUCN lists the dugong as Vulnerable globally, with a decreasing population trend (assessed by Marsh and Sobtzick in 2019). That single global label hides a harsher reality: regional assessments rate the species Critically Endangered in East Africa and Japan's Nansei Islands and Endangered in New Caledonia, while only a few strongholds — notably northern Australia and the Persian Gulf — remain relatively secure. Across much of Southeast Asia, including Indonesian and Malaysian waters, populations are small, scattered and poorly counted, with only a couple of Asian sites confirmed to hold more than 100 animals. Because dugongs are long-lived and breed slowly, even modest losses each year can push a local population into decline that takes decades to reverse.

## Life in the seagrass meadows
Dugongs are entirely marine and rarely stray from the shallow, sheltered coastal waters where seagrass grows. An adult eats tens of kilograms of seagrass a day, uprooting whole plants with its muscular, bristled snout and leaving distinctive feeding trails across the meadow. They are generally slow swimmers, cruising at around 10 km/h, and surface every few minutes to breathe. Mostly solitary or seen in pairs, they sometimes gather in larger herds where seagrass is abundant. Reproduction is unhurried: females give birth to a single calf after a 13–15 month gestation, nurse it for well over a year, and may wait several years between calves.

## Threats: bycatch and vanishing seagrass
The two threats that matter most across the dugong's Southeast Asian range are entanglement and habitat loss. Gillnets set in shallow coastal waters drown dugongs as accidental bycatch — in Malaysia's Mersing area alone, numerous deaths, many of them calves and juveniles, were recorded over recent years. At the same time, the seagrass meadows dugongs cannot live without are being degraded by destructive fishing, coastal development, sedimentation from land clearing, and pollution. Seagrass covers only a fraction of the seafloor yet stores a disproportionate share of ocean carbon, so protecting it serves both dugongs and the climate. Vessel strikes, hunting and pollution add further pressure.

## What dugong rescue and protection involve
Saving dugongs is less about rescuing individuals and more about protecting the meadows they graze and keeping nets out of their path. Effective work combines community-based patrols that deter destructive fishing and reduce gillnet entanglement, seagrass mapping and restoration, response to stranded or orphaned calves, and education so coastal fishers and tourists understand the animal's fragility. Because dugongs range across some 40 countries, lasting protection depends on local teams working meadow by meadow, bay by bay, supported by national protections and international agreements such as the CITES trade ban.

## Dugong vs. manatee: telling the sea cows apart
| Feature | Dugong | Manatee |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Family | Dugongidae | Trichechidae |
| Tail shape | Fluked, dolphin-like | Broad, rounded paddle |
| Snout | Sharply downturned for seabed grazing | Shorter, less downturned |
| Diet | Almost entirely seagrass | Seagrass and freshwater plants |
| Habitat | Strictly marine (coastal seas) | Marine, estuarine and freshwater |
| Range | Indo-West Pacific (~40 countries) | Atlantic — Americas and West Africa |

## What WARN does
The World Animal Rescue Network (WARN CIC) is a registered global not-for-profit animal welfare organisation that funds local partner shelters, sanctuaries and rescue teams in Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Colombia. Two of those countries — Indonesia and Malaysia — sit squarely within the dugong's range, where the species clings on in small, scattered groups threatened by gillnet bycatch and seagrass loss. WARN's role is honest and focused: channel donations to vetted local partners working on coastal-marine protection, community-based patrols and education in its funded countries, while using its wider platform to raise awareness of the dugong's plight across the rest of its Indo-Pacific range. WARN does not run dugong programmes itself; it backs the local people already doing the work.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, dugongs survive in small, fragile groups where one gillnet can undo years of recovery. A gift to WARN helps fund the local partner teams patrolling these coasts and protecting the seagrass meadows dugongs depend on.

## Frequently asked questions: Dugong
### What is a dugong?
A dugong is a large, plant-eating marine mammal of the order Sirenia, the group known as sea cows. It lives entirely in warm coastal seas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and feeds almost exclusively on seagrass.

### How long do dugongs live?
Dugongs are long-lived, commonly reaching around 70 years; one female was aged at 73. Their slow breeding means each long-lived adult matters for the population.

### What do dugongs eat?
Dugongs feed almost entirely on seagrass, uprooting whole plants from shallow meadows with their bristled, downturned snouts. They occasionally take invertebrates such as sea squirts, but they are essentially the only herbivorous marine mammals.

### How big do dugongs get?
Adult dugongs are typically about 3 metres long and weigh roughly 250–400 kg, though exceptionally large individuals have exceeded 1,000 kg. Females tend to be slightly larger than males.

### Are dugongs dangerous to humans?
No. Dugongs are gentle, slow-moving herbivores with no interest in or threat to people. The danger runs the other way — humans harm dugongs through fishing nets, boat strikes and habitat destruction.

### How many dugongs are left?
There is no reliable global population total. The IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable with a decreasing trend; northern Australia holds the largest numbers, while across much of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Malaysia, populations are small and poorly counted, with only a few Asian sites confirmed to exceed 100 animals.

### What is a baby dugong called?
A baby dugong is called a calf. A female usually gives birth to one calf after a 13–15 month pregnancy and nurses it for well over a year.

## Sources
- [IUCN Red List — Dugong dugon (Vulnerable, 2019 assessment)](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/6909/160756767)
- [CITES — Dugong dugon listing (Appendix I; Australian population Appendix II)](https://cites.org/eng/taxonomy/term/1526)
- [CMS — Global dugong report 2025: status and conservation needs](https://www.cms.int/news/global-dugong-report-reveals-urgent-conservation-gaps-and-calls-strengthened-regional-action)
- [Animal Diversity Web — Dugong dugon (University of Michigan)](https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dugong_dugon/)
- [IUCN — Dugong dugon (Eastern Africa subpopulation, Critically Endangered)](https://www.dugongseagrass.org/media/2023/01/IUCN_Dugong-dugong_regional-New-Caledonia_30-April-2022.pdf)
- [Australian Government DCCEEW — Dugongs](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/marine/marine-species/dugongs)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/dugong