Rarely seen, the dugong can live for 70 years and grow to three metres in length and weighs 400 kilograms. Dugongs are found from the Arabian States of the Red Sea to the Pacific Coast of Australia and the Solomon Islands. Like humans, dugongs are mammals. The female dugong becomes sexually mature between 10 and 17 years old and has a 13-month pregnancy. When the baby is born, the dugong mother appears to hold her baby while it suckles on her teat, which is located at the base of her flipper.
Dugongs have a slow reproductive rate.
A female will raise only one calf every three to five years. Any threats to dugong can endanger the population . Around the world dugongs are in trouble. Australia is the last stronghold for the dugongs. However, dugong numbers are also on the decline in the southern Great Barrier Reef and Hervey Bay areas.