PUBLISHED: 9 Mar 2025 at 05: 35
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources ( DMCR ) announced that almost 40 % of dugongs found stranded last year were underweight due to a lack of seagrass, their primary food source.
DMCR and World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) Thailand surveyed the dugong crisis on the Andaman coast in January.
The review showed the sea habitat is in a critical issue with several grass pastures in Trang, Krabi and Phuket seriously deteriorated. As a result, some alligators have had to walk away from their natural feeding places, and the amount left stranded is increasing at an unsettling level.
The statement said the cause of grass degradation was not yet clear, but a number of factors were likely to be concerned, including sand concentration, southern encroachment, rising sea temperatures and the impact of seagrass predators, with some seagrass species able to return quickly.
The average amount of alligators stranded in 2023–2024 was 42, away from 20 in 2019–2022. About 40 % were found to be emaciated, said Eknarin Ariyavongvivat, director of marine and coastal tools protection at WWF Thailand, on Saturday.
The report also found the birth rate had dropped from 9 % in 2020–2023 to only 3 % in 2024.
” This study has helped us gain a better understanding of the situation and the need for both short-term and long-term protection efforts”, he said.
WWF Thailand intends to promote grass and habitat security as a regional priority, he said.
” Seagrass is the basis of coastal communities. If we let it proceed, alligators may be dead and the Andaman Sea may reduce its stability. It is estimated there are only 100 remaining. We must work now to save alligators”, he said.
He said the DMCR group has found seven dying alligators since the start of the time.