ON DEATH OF BABY DUGONG AND MARINE MAMMAL STRANDINGS
It was a sad event when Binu, the one-month-old baby dugong rescued in Infanta, Quezon, died last Sunday at the facility of Manila Ocean Park (MOP). Gastroenteritis or lesions in the gastrointestinal tract has been identified as the cause of the male neonate’s death after the post-mortem investigation.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) Director Theresa Mundita Lim said in an Inquirer interview that a combination of factors such as the infant formula and stress due to the new environment, may have led to the illness. It is said that the milk formula fed to Binu was the same mixture used by the agency since 1990s to take care of eight (8) rescued young dugongs. Unfortunately, none of the rescued dugongs have survived. Lim also recognized that Binu might not survive for a long period of time without its mother. As mammals, dugong calves are known to be very attached to their mothers because they depend on mother’s milk for nourishment before they start weaning on sea grass.
Binu was spotted last January 9 by 2 local fishermen in Barangay Binulasan, Infanta, where its name was derived. The calf was stranded on the beach during low tide with some cut marks on its back and was immediately transferred to Barangay Dinahican. The initial plan was to release Binu back to its habitat, which might be miles across in Polilio Island where dugongs are usually sited. However, there were no signs of the mother dugong’s presence so it was decided by the BMB to transport it 4 to 5 hours away to Manila Ocean Park. It is hard to imagine how the neonate endured the hours of travel.
Recognizing that the act of rescue was done in good faith, it would have been better if the rescue and rehabilitation facility was established onsite near to its natural habitat to aim for the animal’s immediate release. In captivity, chances of survival would be even slimmer as marine mammal experts claim.
Some successful practices in rescuing stranded marine mammals would only resort to rehabilitation if the following criteria could be met: “there is a good chance the animal can be restored to health, facilities are available and equipped for the species and number of animals involved, arrangements can be made for safe and expeditious transport, the animal is manageable and poses no major risk to others or to facility staff, and if there are sufficient funds and staff to provide care for a reasonable period” (MARINE MAMMALS ASHORE: A Field Guide for Strandings; Geraci & Lounsbury, 1993). The goal in responding to a stranding is to provide quick and effective action that will best serve the well-being of the animal in distress and not to add further stress.
The public should be aware that there are certain private establishment posing as “rescue and rehabilitation centers” but actually use the animals as public attraction for profit instead of releasing it back to its natural habitat to perform its important ecological role.
Binu’s experience would serve as a lesson that we need to develop a more effective system of rescuing stranded marine mammals, equip the local communities with higher skills and protocols on rescuing and preserving marine species, and advance the awareness and education of the public about our environment. It would serve to provide more scientific research in determining the causes of strandings and mortalityof marine mammals such as destructive human activities in order for us to do something about it.
Dugongs are endangered species and classified as “vulnerable to extinction” under The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and are protected under DENR Administrative Order No. 55, Series of 1991. XXX
January 27, 2014