The dugong, a friendly marine mammal that has frequented southern China’s waters for hundreds of years, has become functionally extinct in the country, according to a new study on Wednesday.
Research by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that fishing, ship attacks and man-made loss of natural habitat have caused the number of dugongs in Chinese waters to decline rapidly from of the 1970s.
With no evidence of its presence in China since 2008, research shows that “this is the first functional extinction of a large mammal in China’s coastal waters,” according to the report.
The dugong, which is highly dependent on a seagrass diet, has been classified as a Grade 1 national key protected animal since 1988 by the State Council of China.
Their marine habitats were rapidly degraded by humans, and while restoration and recovery efforts are a key priority in China, “restoration takes time that dugongs may no longer have,” the report said.
Found in coastal waters from East Africa to Vanuatu and as far north as Japan, they are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Professor Samuel Turvey of the ZSL Institute of Zoology, co-author of the study, said the likely disappearance of dugongs in China was a devastating loss.
“Its absence will not only have an indirect effect on ecosystem function, but will also serve as a wake-up call – a serious reminder that extinctions can occur before effective conservation actions are taken.”
The study was carried out by an international team of scientists who conducted interviews in 66 fishing communities in four Chinese provinces along the coastal region of the South China Sea.
The authors said they would welcome any evidence that dugongs might still exist in China. They recommended that the species’ regional status be reassessed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).
Source: CNN Brasil
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