Mammals · Sirenia · Dugongidae
Dugong
Dugong dugon
It faces a high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term. See full glossary
It is the only surviving member of the family Dugongidae — its close relative, Steller's sea cow, was hunted to extinction by humans within just 27 years of its scientific discovery in 1741.
Weight
up to 1 t
Size
up to 3 m
Lifespan
70 years
Diet
Herbivore
Feeds mainly on plants.
Activity
Irregular activity
Active at irregular times, by day or night depending on circumstances.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Moderate
Fun facts
- Its intensive grazing on seagrass meadows can consume up to 15% of its body weight in vegetation a day.
- It feeds almost exclusively on seagrasses (marine flowering plants).
- It lives in warm, shallow coastal seagrass meadows of the Indo-Pacific.
- fisiologíaIt feeds almost exclusively on beds of marine flowering plants and can consume up to 10% of its body weight in vegetation each day.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
- Habitat & environment
- Warm, shallow coastal seagrass meadows of the Indo-Pacific
- Birth weight
- 20-30 kg and 1-1.2 m long at birth
- Size at birth
- 20-30 kg and 1-1.2 m at birth
- Sexual maturity
- 9.5 years
- Gestation / incubation
- 13-15 months
- Litter / clutch size
- 1 calf per birth (twins documented in captivity), with several years between births
Sources consulted: A-Z Animals; JRank Sea Cows Dugongs Manatees; Ocean Info; Menjelajahi Perbedaan (traducido)
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 20 de 57 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Dugong — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Least ConcernHumpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
EndangeredGreen Turtle
Chelonia mydas
Blacktip Reef Shark
Carcharhinus melanopterus
EndangeredGiant Manta
Mobula birostris
Critically EndangeredGiant Clam
Tridacna gigas
Bryde's Whale
Balaenoptera edeni
How to help
The dugong is classified as vulnerable. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 13 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about dugong.
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