Marium the dugong improving in nursery’s care
Marium, an orphaned baby dugong found on the Krabi shore in April, will remain for at least six more months in the care of a dugong nursery on Koh Libong in Trang, the province that is presumed to have been its original habitat.
Chaiyapruek Weerawong, head of the Koh Libong Wildlife Preserve, said on Saturday the female dugong would then be released in the open sea off Trang coast. He said Marium, now about six months old, was in the good hands of officials and volunteers in the island’s Khao Batu area.
It’s fed milk and seagrass and has a daily swim in the sea alongside the Mae Som (Mother Orange), the preserve’s specially rigged boat of that colour.
Chaiyapruek said Marium was recovering well, consuming two litres of milk a day and now eating seagrass by itself. “Although it’s stronger now, it’s still too small to release into the open sea because it could be harmed,” he said. “We’ll continue taking good care of it for the next six months at least.” He said the dugong would also undergo survival training at low tide so it can avoid being washed ashore again.
Marium was found on Krabi’s Ao Tung Beach on April 29 and taken to Trang to recover. Dugongs are classed as “vulnerable to extinction” and protected by law in Thailand.
Trang has the largest dugong population in the country, with at least 210 counted in an aerial survey last year by the Andaman Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Centre.
The docile sea mammals are often sighted around Koh Libong among the masses of seagrass, their primary food.