HANOI (AFP) - Two dugongs, or sea cows -- one of the most endangered marine mammals in Southeast Asia -- have been butchered for their meat in Vietnam over the last month, state media said.

The dugongs, weighed between 250 and 500 kilogrammes, were captured and killed by local fishermen in Ha Tien town and Phu Quoc island in the southern province of Kien Giang, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said.

However, the WorldWide Fund for Nature's Indochina programme in Hanoi said they had only been informed of the death of one dugong in Phu Quoc, by local authorities.

The population of dugongs, a whale-like mammal found in shallow tropical waters from East Africa to Australia, has declined dramatically in the past 25 years in Vietnam, despite being listed in the government's conservation "red book".


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They'll thoughtlessly fish for them to extinction, so then the only
ones we'll be able to see will be on exhibit.

I hate to hear this....so much. The sea cow is a gentle creature, unless you are near her calves, but hey, mess with my babies and I get hostile, too. I HATE to hear anything close to extinction!! Everything has a place on this earth, keeps the chain going, we need what we have, why are we killing it all off!!!!!! I think there is a delicate balance to things placed on earth, and humans have such a strong urge to control, or "fix" things that we don't see we are fussing things up!! Argghhhh

Soon to be extinct. The bad thing is I hear it tastes just like chicken!!!

Once again - humans having no consideration for the BIGGER PICTURE. Damn them!!!