(MY) dugongs rehab centre

July 22, 2006

Saturday July 22, 2006 - The Star

Dugong rehab centre to be set up

*By TEH ENG HOCK*

*JOHOR BARU:* A Dugong Rescue Centre (DRC) will be set up at the Fisheries

Department's Brackish Water Aquaculture Research Centre in Gelang Patah to

rehabilitate injured and weak dugongs.

Department director-general Datuk Junaidi Che Ayub said the DRC would be

ready within this year, as the research centre's facilities could be

converted for the purpose.

" Right now we need to have our personnel trained to handle dugongs, " he said

after launching the Dugong Management and Conservation Convention on

Thursday.

" They have the expertise to handle fish and other aquatic creatures, and I

believe the basic principles of handling dugongs are the same.

" We just need them to learn a bit more about the characteristics of dugongs,

which are mammals. "

Junaidi said the cost of setting up the DRC was low since the existing tanks

at the research centre could be used for the dugong centre.

" We are thinking of adding a bigger tank, but that will not cost much, " he

said, without giving any figures.

Junaidi said that besides the DRC in Gelang Patah the department was

planning to set up one or two more similar centres in villages on the east

coast of Johor as most dugongs were sighted in waters there.

" That would mean less travelling for the animals and less stress on them, "

he said.

He added that a rescue centre for dugongs, an endangered species, was

important as they might not survive if released back into the sea when still

weak.

Twenty-three dugongs have been found dead in Johor waters since 1994,

according to Junaidi.

Research centre head K. Subramaniam said the DRC would have the capacity to

treat dugongs under 100kg. Bigger dugongs, which can weigh up to 400kg, will

be treated onsite.

" We will set up a floating cage in the sea, where we will monitor and treat

them before they are released back into the wild, " he said.

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