Ocean Sentry
(From indianexpress.com) Andaman Islands, India – The dugong, a massive sea mammal often mistaken by sailors as the mythical mermaid, has most of its last viable populations in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The population here too, of these slow breeding, 13 feet long animals, is only 25-30. Now, there’s one less. The long arm of poaching has not spared the pristine Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A breeding female dugong, protected under Schedule One of the Wildlife Protection Act, was hacked to death by poachers around Christmas on Neil Island. The meat of the dugong may have been used as fish bait and was chanced upon by scuba-divers in the area.
“Tourists in Neil island, part of the Andaman complex, woke up to the sight of a mutilated carcass of the dugong on beach number 3 of Neil islands. We found the carcass dripping with blood. We had spotted the same animal with a calf on the beach so it is now unlikely the calf will survive on its own. Its shocking that anti-social elements can operate like this,” said Lucan, a scuba-diver in the area. The Chief Wildlife warden of the area, Khajan Singh, has deputed a senior forest department official to investigate the matter.
