For an animal often unflatteringly referred to as a sea-pig, the dugong’s portliness is its main defence. The thickest part of its body is the back, where there is more blubber. This means the animals protect themselves from predators, such as sharks, by simply turning their backs on them .
What do dugongs do to survive?
Dugongs graze on underwater grasses day and night , rooting for them with their bristled, sensitive snouts and chomping them with their rough lips. These mammals can stay underwater for six minutes before surfacing. They sometimes breathe by “standing” on their tail with their heads above water.
How do animals protect themselves from predators?
Most predators catch live prey, so some animals defend themselves by playing dead . ... Some animals, like deer, defend themselves by being faster than the predators that hunt them . Other animals defend themselves by leaving body parts behind . Many lizards lose their tails when attacked .
Who are dugongs predators?
Defence. Dugongs are slow-moving and have little protection against predators. Being large animals, however, only large sharks, saltwater crocodiles and killer whales are a danger to them. Young dugongs hide behind their mothers when in danger.
Is a dugong a predator or prey?
Adult dugongs do not have any natural predators , but juveniles may be eaten by saltwater crocodiles, killer whales, and large, coastal sharks.
How can we protect dugongs?
- Protect habitat: Avoid damaging seagrass an don’t drag boats over seagrass meadows. ...
- Mesh nets: Prohibitions and restrictions on the use of nets by commercial fishers in dugong protection areas are available in the Fisheries Regulations 1995.
What can dugongs do?
Dugong’s can communicate using barks, chirps, squeaks, trills and other sounds that can travel through water .
How are animals protected?
The Animal Welfare Act : Signed into law in 1966, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is the primary federal animal protection law. The AWA mainly involves animals kept at zoos and used in laboratories, as well as animals who are commercially bred and sold like those in puppy mills.
How does a snake protect itself?
Snakes have many ways of protecting themselves. Their coloring alone is great camouflage and some snakes can burrow down under sand or leaves for extra coverage. ... Venomous snakes will try to escape or frighten off a hunter before ever trying to bite them.
How do dugongs adapt to their environment?
The dugong, also known as the sea cow, is adapted for life in the sea with a streamlined body, wedge-shaped tail and strong flippers . As air-breathing mammals, dugongs must return to the surface every five to 10 minutes. ... If frightened, dugongs make a whistling sound while calves give bleat-like cries.
Are dugongs friendly?
A FAMOUS DUGONG
Dugongs are huge but friendly . Dodong signals us to keep at least five meters away from the obliviously grazing bull, crunching on clumps of Halophila ovalis, which unlike most types of seagrass, has small round leaves instead of flowing grass blades.
Why is the dugong important?
Wherever they survive, dugongs play an important role in maintaining coastal ecosystems . Their constant browsing of seagrass encourages regrowth – ensuring critical habitat and feeding sites for a host of other marine species, including turtles, dolphins and sawfish.
Do tiger sharks eat dugongs?
Combined with poor eyesight, their languid lifestyle makes dugongs relatively easy prey for tiger sharks, who are famously unfussy eaters. Across their range, these fearsome predators have been found with all sorts of tasty prey in their stomachs, from fish and crustaceans to turtles and sea snakes .
Is Dugong endangered or threatened?
The dugong’s current distribution is fragmented, and many populations are believed to be close to extinction. The IUCN lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction , while the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans the trade of derived products.
How do dugong eat?
Dugongs float across the bottom of the water to search for grasses with their bristled snouts. Their muscular lips help them suck up large quantities of food at a time. Their feeding behavior actually leaves behind large furrows on the sea bed that can be seen from the surface.
What would happen if dugongs went extinct?
Abu Dhabi If dugongs become extinct, the impact will not be limited merely to the fact that future generations will not get to see the marine mammal — their absence will almost surely have an impact on the availability of sea fish , the staple diet of millions of people across the world.
What we can do to save the dugongs and other endangered sea animals?
The endangered species can be saved
Current and long-term monitoring of dugongs shows that their populations can be maintained or recovered by ensuring protection of their habitats, reducing their deaths due to fishing.
Why do dugongs have tusks?
The dugong possesses a pair of tusks, formed by the first upper incisor teeth in both males and females, that are used as cutting instruments for foraging 3 .
What do you think are the reasons why dugongs become endangered?
Threats. Dugongs are threatened by sea grass habitat loss or degradation because of coastal development or industrial activities that cause water pollution . If there is not enough sea grass to eat then the dugong does not breed normally. This makes the conservation of their shallow water marine habitat very important.
What do Dugongs eat in the Great Barrier Reef?
Habitat and Diet
Dugongs are primarily herbivorous, grazing on up to 30kg of seagrass a day. They eat both day and night, locating their food with the help of coarse, sensitive bristles on their upper lip.
Why is plankton important to Great Barrier Reef?
Plankton ecosystems also play a significant role in oxygen production , over half of the ocean’s oxygen production is produced through phytoplankton photosynthesis. Without plankton, the Great Barrier Reef wouldn’t exist.
How can we protect wild animals?
- Plant trees. Trees recycle oxygen, returning it to the atmosphere for us to breathe and absorbing potentially harmful gases along the way. ...
- Keep it clean. ...
- Pick up trash. ...
- Adopt an animal. ...
- Take action. ...
- Donate. ...
- Stay Informed.
What are predators to snakes?
Snakes have many predators, though the size and location of the snake determine the animals that will go after them. Birds, mongooses, wild bores, foxes, raccoons, and coyotes are just a few of their potential threats. Other snakes may also go after each other.
How does the snake protect itself Class 9?
Answer: The snake has a natural instinct of survival. He can smell and see dangers and escape from them safely. The snake moves with sudden curvings gliding through the water to protect itself from the attack.
How do milk snakes protect themselves from predators?
“Milk snakes are well known for their use of mimicry as a defensive strategy ,” Heyborne said. They are often confused with copperheads and coral snakes because they all have bright, blotchy coloration. Nonvenomous milk snakes evolved to look like these venomous species in order to scare predators.
How do dugongs find mates?
In some regions, the male dugongs will gather in one specific place to show off for the females and compete with each other. ... Some populations of dugongs off of Western Australia find mates this way. In other areas males are more aggressive, fighting over mating rights rather than just making displays and competing.
Why sharks dont eat dugongs?
Where sharks rove seagrass beds, dugongs and other shark prey species steer clear. That keeps seagrasses — which grazers like dugongs and other marine animals eat — from being decimated.
Do humans eat dugongs?
The dugong has been hunted for thousands of years for its meat and oil . Traditional hunting still has great cultural significance in several countries in its modern range, particularly northern Australia and the Pacific Islands.
Do dugongs breathe air?
Like other mammals such as whales, dugongs need to breathe air . They can only remain below the surface for up to six minutes at a time, which is most likely why they prefer shallower areas.
Do killer whales eat dugongs?
Killer whales exist at the top of the food chain as apex predators with no other animals hunting orcas other than humans. These whales consume sea birds, squids, octopuses, sea turtles, sharks, and fish. Orcas also eat other marine mammals such as seals and dugong.
Do sharks eat sea cows?
In fact, sharks rarely encounter manatees as they do not often reside in the same waters. ... Shark attacks on manatees are extremely rare. That does not mean that sharks do not eat manatees. Actually, West Indian Manatees are occasionally eaten by large predators such as tiger sharks.
Why is it important to save dugong?
The participation of the international community is vital when it comes to saving endangered species from extinction and protecting the environment generally. These programmes will maintain seagrass ecosystems – the dugong’s main source of food – and keep the water healthy for the species. ...
How can Tamaraw extinction be prevented?
Garcia pointed out that refraining from hunting tamaraws and destroying their habitats are among the measures the public can do to help conserve this species.
Why is dugong a PNG national animal?
Legislation was introduced in Papua New Guinea in 1978 to protect the dugong, and it was declared the National Animal. The legislation allowed hunting only for village use , using traditional methods.
