The dugong has become functionally extinct in waters off China. Researchers from the Zoological Society of London and the Chinese Academy of Sciences said fishing, ship strikes and human-caused habitat loss had seen the number of dugongs in Chinese waters decrease rapidly since the 1970s. Australia has been the most important place for dugongs for several thousands of years because they have enormous cultural value to Indigenous people and they also have major biodiversity values because they're very strange animals. In northern Australia, we have a very wide continental shelf which supports extensive seagrass beds and so we can support a lot more dugongs, because we have got the habitat. What do you think LiveTribers? Does Australia play “an important place” for dugongs?
Posted by on 20 Sep 2022
