Scientists have declared the dugong, the creature that inspired the fairy tale The Little Mermaid, extinct in China. While it still exists in some other parts of the world, it is also under threat.
Only three people have been reported to have seen a dugong off the coast of China in the past five years.
The dugong is known as the calmest giant animal in the ocean. Its slow, easygoing nature is thought to make it vulnerable to fishing and shipwrecks.
Professor Samuel Turvey, a scientist at the Zoological Society of London, said that the extinction of dugongs in China is an irreparable loss.
Scientists from the Zoological Society of London and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have reviewed historical records of dugongs' presence in China. They have found evidence that dugongs have not been seen in China since 2000.
To be more certain, 788 people living along the coast were interviewed. They said that only one dugong had been seen three times in the past five years.
Heidi Ma, a researcher at the Zoological Society of London, said the animal has been declared 'virtually extinct' as they are no longer able to sustain themselves.
The dugong is a unique animal of the sea. Weighing about 500 kg, this animal is the only marine herbivorous mammal.
Due to its calm nature, many believe that the dugong was inspired by the mermaids and sirens of Chinese fairy tales.
However, in the 20th century, hunters began hunting it for its skin, meat, and bones. As its numbers began to decline, the State Council of China declared it a national protected animal in 1988.
Although this animal is found in 87 tropical regions of the world, including the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific Ocean, it has been declared an endangered species internationally.
