TRANG, Aug 12 (TNA) — Veterinarians were monitoring the conditions of little dugong Mariam around the clock after it was chased and shocked by a fully-grown dugong in the sea.
Mariam was shocked after a male dugong chased it during the mating season near the Pan Yang headland in a low tide. In the past two days Mariam did not drink milk and rarely ate seagrass.
On Aug 10, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation reported that Mariam’s conditions were improving but it remained tired because it did not drink milk and ate only ground seagrass and vitamins. Its heart beats remained abnormal. It did not want to swim and had respiratory problems. Its lungs were infected and it suffered two shocks. Therefore, veterinarians were monitoring its conditions around the clock.
On Aug 11, the department reported that Mariam’s conditions were critical and if it was stronger in the next 2-5 days, it would be moved by a helicopter from Ban Batu Puteh School to the Phuket Marine Biological Center. A lot of netizens left comments and extended their best wishes for the recovery of the little dugong.
On Aug 12 Mariam suffered infection in its blood and lungs. Its conditions were stable. It ate few food although officials tried to feed it with milk and seagrass. Rough sea also affected it, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation reported.
Officials prepared two treatment facilities for it at the Trang campus of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya and at Duyong Bay.
The female baby dugong was found losing its mother in the Andaman Sea off Krabi province in April and local fisherman called it Mariam. (TNA)
