Endangered mammal dies after eating 80 plastic bags | Chronic

A dugongo calf, an aquatic mammal threatened with extinction similar to the manatee, died Saturday in Thailand as a result of an aggravated plastic infection that he had ingested, official sources reported.

Mariam, an eight-month-old dugongo ("Dugong dugon") rescued last April, died after veterinarians took her to a particular pond when her condition deteriorated on the island. Libong, in the province of Trat, southwest of the island. Country.

The dugongs, like the manatees, belong to the order of the sirens, which do not share the evolutionary kinship with the seals, but their closest relatives are the elephants.

"RIP Mariam", wrote on her Twitter account the Department of Natural Parks, Wildlife and Flora, who later stated that the cause of death was a "blood infection" aggravated by the plastic in the intestines according to the autopsy.

Since he was rescued from a beach in Krabi Province (Andaman Sea) last April, the animal has become a phenomenon on social networks because of photos and photos. videos uploaded by veterinarians who are busy with them.

Last year, a pilot whale died as a result of the obstruction of 80 plastic bags found in his bowels in southern Thailand.

Greenpeace has denounced that about eight million tonnes of waste go to the oceans each year.

The spill includes billions of plastic bags or fragments that also cause the annual death of thousands of copies of marine wildlife.