Marine mammal caught near Taiwan confirmed to be endangered dugong

Taipei, March 28 (CNA) A marine mammal recently caught and released by a fisherman off Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan, has been identified as a dugong, an endangered species thought to be extinct in waters around Taiwan.

The 3-meter long, 500-kilogram mammal seen in a video released by a fisherman surnamed Chen (陳) on Tuesday was the species scientifically named "Dugong dugon," Jeng Ming-shiou (鄭明修), executive director of Academia Sinica's Biodiversity Research Center, told CNA Friday.

The dugong was found among Chen's catch in waters 800 meters off Fenniaolin fishing port in Yilan, according to local media reports.

Jeng said the species is categorized as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and listed as "extinct" in Taiwan.

The last time a dugong was seen in Taiwan was in 1986 when one was found dead on Liuqiu Island southwest of Kaohsiung in 1986, and before that fishermen caught one in northern Taiwan in 1937, the marine biologist said.

The mammal species' habitat is in coastal and shallow waters around Japan's Ishigaki Island, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, according to Jeng.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species website shows that the species is extinct in Mauritius and Taiwan according to the most recent assessment made in 2015.

The stuffed specimen of the dugong found dead in 1986 can be seen at National Taiwan Museum in Taipei, which also has the skeleton of another dudong dated back to the 1930s, according to the natural history museum's website.