Appearance

Both males and females have huge long tusks, which are their jaws, but only the males are visible. Most dugongs are brownish or grayish as their color. It has a massive tail that propels them through the water. The dugongs use their flippers for steering of course but also eating. These sea cows measure up to 9 feet long and weigh 600 pounds. They can also live up to 70 years if nothing harms them.

Range

These types of manatees live in the Indian and south pacific oceans from eastern Africa to northern Australia.

Habitat

Dugongs prefer to live in shallow warm coastal waters.

Food/Diet

The sea cows are vegetarians so they eat sea grass.

Breeding

Their breeding period is anytime of the year. The gestation period is a full 13 months. Babies eat the abundant sea grass until they are about 18 months old. Even when the calf has grown up to 1.8 meters it will still suckle on its mother.

Status

Approximately 100,000 live today.

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