Trichy: One of the two dugongs, an aquatic mammal, trapped in fishing net off Pudukottai coast near Manamelkudi died on Wednesday. However, forest department personnel managed to rescue the other dugong and release it back into the sea with the help of fishermen.Dugong known as sea cow, which is protected under Schedule – I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, found extensively in shallow waters along Pudukottai coast.Fishermen, who spread fishing nets on Wednesday midnight, found two dugongs while dragging the net to shore.They immediately alerted the marine police and the forest department about the incident.Speaking to TOI, M Anand Kumar, Pudukottai district forest officer, said that they could not save the female pregnant dugong, which was approximately 10 feet long. However, the male was rescued and released into the sea.These mammals that feed on sea grass, grow extensively along the continental shelf of the Pudukottai coast. We rushed to the spot on getting the information, but only one of them could be rescued, he said.Suffocation must have led to the death, the DFO said, adding that these animals are breathing with lungs that need to come to the sea surface to take atmospheric air. It might have trapped in the sea bed, and could not to come up to breathe.

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