Taking the lead in saving the sea cows that battle for survival 

In September, the State government notified 448 square kilometres as the conservation reserve for these largest herbivorous marine mammals in the world, which thrive primarily on seagrass beds. According to estimates, there are only 240 of these animals left in the country, and the majority of them are in the Palk Bay, off Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts

While the cows roam around everywhere in the country, the sea cows (dugong) are fighting for survival. Now, Tamil Nadu has taken the lead in saving them by setting up the nation’s first Dugong Conservation Reserve in the Palk Bay.

According to estimates, there are only 240 dugongs left in the whole country, and the majority of them are in the Palk Bay, especially off the coast off Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts. In September, the State government notified 448 square kilometres as the conservation reserve for dugongs, the largest herbivorous marine mammals in the world, thriving primarily on seagrass beds.

Though they are protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, their population is on the decline owing to habitat loss. “They are also shy animals, difficult to spot,” says Akhil Thampi, District Forest Officer, Thanjavur.

The conservation reserve is different from the wildlife sanctuaries, he points out. There are no restrictions on the local communities in the conservation reserve. It works by involving the local communities in the conservation, he explains.

From the time the proposal was announced in the Assembly last year, Supriya Sahu, Secretary, Environment and Forests, has been maintaining that the fishermen are stakeholders in the reserve, of which conservation would not be possible without the participation of the coastal communities.

For a year, the Forest Department and other government agencies, led by the Collectors, have been carrying out extensive outreach activities and consulting the fishermen. At these meetings, the fishermen themselves admitted that the sighting of dugongs had come down over the past few decades. In the distant past, there were instances of their having been poached for meat, but the fishermen are more aware now and there have not been any instance of poaching of late. In fact, the fishermen now rescue and release the dugongs back into the sea. They are awarded for their kind act, says Mr. Thampi.

The seagrass beds in these coastal waters are critical to the survival of dugongs. Although dugongs are present in the Gulf of Kutch and in the waters around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a major chunk of them are in the Palk Bay. Once in a while, they move into the adjacent Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, officials of the Forest Department say.