BANGKOK, 06 July 2019 (NNT) – Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari has adopted two orphaned dugongs under the Corals and Marine Animals Conservation project, and today named one of them.
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, in cooperation with the navy and related agencies, has been looking after two dugongs which were swept ashore and stranded. Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari named the baby dugon found in Krabi province last weekend ’Yamil’, a Yawi word for handsome creature of the sea. Her Royal Highness has now adopted the two recently found juvenile dugongs, Mariam and Yamil, under the Corals and Aquatic Animals Conservation project.
Mariam has gradually recovered and black and white stains on her body, caused by stress, have begun to fade. Yamil, meanwhile has gained strength, though unexplained bruises remain on his body. The baby dugong is being cared for by veterinarians. The growing dugongs will need care for at least a year before they can return to the sea independently.
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources is to conduct a study on dugongs, as some have strayed and been swept ashore, in an effort to conserve them and raise public awareness of the value of marine creatures in Thailand. No fewer than 250 dugongs are estimated to be living currently in Thai waters, mostly off Trang province.
