Famous baby sea cow dies from eating plastic waste

Famous baby sea cow dies from eating plastic waste a week after it was rescued by marine experts in Thailand

  • Large baby ocean mammal Marium dies after ingesting plastic waste and shock 
  • The eight-month old baby dugong was first found off Thailand earlier this year
  • Marium became a worldwide internet hit after feeding photos went viral online 

An eight-month baby dugong who became a worldwide internet hit has died after ingesting plastic waste and shock.

The large ocean mammal dugong Marium was first found off southern Thailand earlier this year after she got lost from her mother.

Photos of marine biologists embracing and feeding her with milk and sea grass went viral all over the globe after being uploaded to social media.

The dugong is a species of marine mammal which can grow to about 11 feet in length. Marium, pictured above rubbing up against a canoe, was first found off southern Thailand earlier this year after she got lost from her mother

But the lovable mammal died last week after she was left bruised by an attack by a male dugong during the mating season, dying of a combination of shock and ingesting plastic.

Her autopsy showed a big amount of plastic waste in her intestine, which could also have played a part in her death as it led to gastritis and blood infection, according to spokesman Jatuporn Buruspat from Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.  

Director general Mr Buruspat said: ‘We assume she wandered off too far from her natural habitat and was chased and eventually attacked by another male dugong, or dugongs, as they feel attracted to her. She must have thought these plastics were edible’.  

The lovable mammal died last week after she was left bruised by an attack by a male dugong during the mating season, dying of a combination of shock and ingesting plastic. Researchers are pictured holding her in March

 The lovable mammal died last week after she was left bruised by an attack by a male dugong during the mating season, dying of a combination of shock and ingesting plastic. Researchers are pictured holding her in March

The dugong is a species of marine mammal similar to the American manatee and can grow to about 11 feet in length. Its conservation status is listed as vulnerable.

Thailand’s Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-arcpha said the animal’s death saddens the whole nation and the world. 

Mr Silpa-arcpha said her corpse will be stuffed for research purposes.

He said: ‘Her death will remind Thais and people all over the world not to dispose trash into the oceans’. 

The dugong is a species of marine mammal which can grow to about 11 feet in length. 

Marium was spotted alone near a beach on Ko Poda island in Krabi province in April. 

Officials later tried to release her into a dugong habitat off the coast of another island but it swam away.

Her autopsy showed a big amount of plastic waste in her intestine, which could also have played a part in her death as it led to gastritis and blood infection, according to spokesman Jatuporn Buruspat from Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources

Her autopsy showed a big amount of plastic waste in her intestine, which could also have played a part in her death as it led to gastritis and blood infection, according to spokesman Jatuporn Buruspat from Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources

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