Sarkari Naukri

07 September 2021 Current Affairs:The Government of Tamil Nadu announced its plan to set up 1st Dugong Conservation Reserve of India in the Palk Bay on the southeast coast.

Highlights:
♦ Dugong is an endangered marine mammal. Dugong is also known as Sea Cow. It is facing extinction due to the fact of habitat loss, sea pollution, and loss of seagrass.
♦ Dugong is discovered in the Gulf of Mannar and at Palk Bay in Tamil Nadu.
♦ Gulf of Mannar is a shallow bay place between south jap cease of Tamil Nadu and western Sri Lanka.
♦ With the assistance of neighborhood participation, the Government will also construct a Dugong Marine Conservation Reserve in the Gulf of Mannar & Palk Bay place to protect the species.
♦ Marine Conservation Reserve will be mounted over a location of 500km in Palk Bay.
♦ It is believed that, an estimated 200 humans stay in the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar area which would largely benefit from Tamil Nadu government’s current selection to establish conservation reserve.
♦ About Dugong: Dugong is a sea mammal and is the sole dwelling species of the order Sirenia. The mammal is restricted to coastal habitat because of seagrass, which is a primary section of its diet. They have a distinct dolphin-like tail, one-of-a-kind cranium form and enamel pattern. Its closest relative is Steller’s Sea cow, which obtained extinction in the eighteenth century. The IUCN has listed dugong as a “vulnerable to extinction species”. On the other hand, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has restricted or banned the change of derived products.