Reproductive Biology of Dugong
Characteristically, these mammals give birth to individual babies
after a development stage of about a year. The new borne stick with the
mother dugong for more than a year before it goes out alone into the
water exploring the world itself.
The male partner among the dugong family does not really take part in
any sort of upbringing of the child. One of the important factors that
relates to their breeding process is the availability of the sea grass,
which serves as their prime food. If these creatures do not get enough
to eat, they delay their reproduction. At the age of ten years both the
sexes of dugong matures and can come together for the purpose of
breeding till the age of 17 years.
Although dugongs do not have any specific breeding period but reports
suggests that they usually prefer the month of spring and summer for
their mating process. They may reproduce throughout the year, which
again varies on the geographic condition of the area. Usually, dugong
gives birth to single babies, twins are very rare. The birth process
continues for almost a year and it takes place in low water where the
babies start swimming as soon as they take their first breath. The
weight of the new born babies is 20 to 35 kg and 100 to 120 cm in terms
of length. The new born baby continues suckling till the age of 1 and
half years and the period between succeeding calving varies.
The young baby starts eating sea grasses within a week of its birth and
stay along with their mother for nursing for 1 to two years. The
reproduction rate of this species is very slow so is their growth
period, a high speculation is involved with each young dugong and
extended age band time. They can live up to an age of 70 years.
These creatures are generally found alone or in a group of two. In a
large group of dugongs there can be more than 100 individual dugongs
including the babies and their mother.
There is a fierce competition among the males to supersede each other so
that they can win the heart of the female. They are often seen in the
coastal region of Queensland, the Moreton Bay, and the South Cove in
Shark Bay where the males display a list of odd behaviours to attract
the females towards them.
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