Status of Sea Cow, Dugong (Dugong dugon) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

摘要

Sea cow (Dugong dugon) is the only extant species in the Family Dugongidae and true herbivorous marinemammal. It is listed as vulnerable to extinction at a global scale by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).The present paper documents the status of dugong in Andaman and Nicobar Islands by collating the publisheddata as well as investigation through undersea surveys in selected places of this archipelago. Based on theexisting data on dugong in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it is observed that over the period of 51 yearssince 1959, a total of 76 dugongs were recorded either in the form of live or dead. Among them 47 dugongswere from Andaman Islands, whereas 29 encountered from Nicobar Islands. The distribution of this mammalis comparatively high in north Andaman, Ritchie’s Archipelago and Great Nicobar Island. Potential threatsand managerial strategies for the effective conservation of dugongs in Andaman and Nicobar Islands havealso been discussed in the paper.