Although crocodiles and sharks occasionally kill manatees in Africa, their only significant threats are from humankind, such as poaching, habitat loss, and other environmental impacts. She represents the only living species of dugong, which is widely distributed in both the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Although most of the research has been done in Australia, dugongs are found from the southeast coast of Africa and west coast of Madagascar, north to the Arabian peninsula, east to India, Thailand, Indonesia, Papua-New Guinea, the Philippines and as far north as Japan. Dugongs are quite different from manatees and are actually more closely related to the extinct Steller's sea cow than to any living species of manatee. They are never found in fresh water, but spend all their time in salt water where they feed on sea grasses.
Dugongs also have tusks, which are absent in all the manatee species.
They may live to be greater than 70 years old in the wild, but are threatened by habitat degradation and other environmental impacts. Click on a name below to learn more about orphaned animals around the world. Contact information is provided on each of the following pages for direct support to the rehabilitation project. All contributions are tax deductible within the limits of the law.