---
title: "Dugong (Dugong dugon) | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "A sea cow that rips up seagrass with a flexible upper lip and may live more than 50 years."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/dugong-1.webp"
published: "2026-09-29"
updated: "2026-09-29"
---
# Dugong (*Dugong dugon*)
> **Status**: Checked against 5 sources, listed under Sources below.
> **Tagline**: A sea cow that rips up seagrass with a flexible upper lip and may live more than 50 years.
> **Soundtrack Vibe**: Slowcore & Minimal Indie // Low, "Sunflower"
> **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/5MLBottNJ4s4yL6t9sIryD)
> **Vibe Match**: A dugong has a low metabolism and grazes seagrass for an estimated 50 years or more. Low played slowcore, songs held to a crawl, and "Sunflower" takes its time in the same unhurried way.
## Biological Superpowers & Stats
- **Taxonomy**: *Dugong dugon*
- **Danger Level**: Low
- **Conservation Status**: Vulnerable ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-4.rlts.t6909a160756767.en))
- **Superpower**: Rips up whole seagrass plants with a flexible upper lip
- **Habitat**: Tropical coastal waters, generally shallow, from East Africa to Vanuatu
- **Diet**: Seagrass, and marine algae when seagrass is scarce
- **Tags**: mammal, herbivore, ocean, aquatic
## Natural History & Behavior
## A lip that ploughs the seabed
Dugongs are plant-eating grazers. Seagrass is their main food, and they harvest it with a flexible upper lip that rips up entire plants. If a plant will not come up whole, the dugong tears off the leaves. The grazing leaves furrows in the seagrass bed that can be seen from the surface.
> **Whiskers everywhere** Sensory bristles cover a dugong's upper lip and help it find food. Bristles also cover the rest of its body.
An adult dugong weighs 230 to 400 kg and is 2.4 to 4 m long. A long intestine aids the digestion of seagrass, and the dugong has a low metabolism.
## Tusks that tell its age
Dugongs are estimated to live more than 50 years in the wild, and one estimate suggests they may reach 73. A dugong's age is estimated by counting the growth layers in a tusk. Tusks are projections of the incisor teeth, and they are usually only visible through the skin in mature males and old females. Mating can be violent, and the protruding tusks leave scars on females and on competing males.
## Shy and shark-wary
Dugongs live in tropical waters from East Africa to Vanuatu, about 26 degrees north and south of the equator. The biggest population lives off northern Australia, between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay. The second biggest lives in the Arabian Gulf.
They stay in shallow water, usually about 10 m deep, and occasionally dive as deep as 39 m to feed. Their nostrils sit on top of the head, and valves keep them shut during a dive. A dugong surfaces every few minutes to breathe. Their eyesight is poor, and they use hearing more than sight. They chirp, whistle and bark to communicate.
They are quite shy: approached with care, they investigate a diver or boat from long range but hesitate to come closer. Sharks, crocodiles and killer whales feed on juveniles. In Shark Bay, dugongs used shallow and deep water in proportion to the food in each when large tiger sharks were scarce. When large tiger sharks were common, they overused the deep water, which the study calls safe but impoverished. The authors describe an apparent food-safety trade-off.
Its family once included Steller's sea cow, a North Pacific giant 7 to 10 m long that was hunted to extinction around 1768. The IUCN Red List rates the dugong Vulnerable.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### Is a dugong the same as a manatee?
No, though they are cousins. A dugong's tail has a straight or concave edge and works like a propeller, while a manatee's tail is shaped like a paddle. *(Source: [Macdonald]())*
### How often does a dugong have a calf?
Slowly. Pregnancy lasts 13 to 14 months, and a female produces one calf every 2.5 to 7 years, depending on where she lives. The calf weighs about 30 kg at birth and suckles for 18 months or longer. *(Source: [Macdonald]())*
### Are dugongs at risk of extinction?
It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Threats include hunting, fishing nets, boat strikes and habitat loss. *(Source: [Marsh & Sobtzick 2019]())*
## Sources
1. [Dugong (Dugong dugon) longevity, ageing, and life history. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database.]()
2. [Macdonald. Dugong dugon (dugong). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]()
3. [Wirsing, Heithaus & Dill (2007). Fear factor: do dugongs (Dugong dugon) trade food for safety from tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier)? Oecologia.]()
4. [Springer et al. (2015). Interordinal gene capture, the phylogenetic position of Steller’s sea cow based on molecular and morphological data, and the macroevolutionary history of Sirenia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.]()
5. [Marsh & Sobtzick (2019). Dugong dugon. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T6909A160756767.]()
*Published September 29, 2026. Last updated September 29, 2026.*
```json
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@graph": [
{
"@type": "Article",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dugong/#article",
"isPartOf": {
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website"
},
"headline": "Dugong (Dugong dugon) | AnimalTracks.wiki",
"description": "A sea cow that rips up seagrass with a flexible upper lip and may live more than 50 years.",
"image": [
"https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/dugong-1.webp"
],
"datePublished": "2026-09-29",
"dateModified": "2026-09-29",
"author": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki"
}
],
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization",
"name": "AnimalTracks.wiki",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png"
}
},
"mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dugong/",
"citation": [
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Dugong (Dugong dugon) longevity, ageing, and life history",
"url": "https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Dugong_dugon",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database"
}
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Dugong dugon (dugong)",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dugong_dugon/",
"author": "Macdonald",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan"
}
},
{
"@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
"name": "Fear factor: do dugongs (Dugong dugon) trade food for safety from tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier)?",
"url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-007-0802-3",
"author": "Wirsing, Heithaus & Dill",
"datePublished": "2007",
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "Periodical",
"name": "Oecologia"
},
"identifier": "doi:10.1007/s00442-007-0802-3"
},
{
"@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
"name": "Interordinal gene capture, the phylogenetic position of Steller’s sea cow based on molecular and morphological data, and the macroevolutionary history of Sirenia",
"url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.05.022",
"author": "Springer et al.",
"datePublished": "2015",
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "Periodical",
"name": "Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution"
},
"identifier": "doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.05.022"
},
{
"@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
"name": "Dugong dugon. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T6909A160756767",
"url": "https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-4.rlts.t6909a160756767.en",
"author": "Marsh & Sobtzick",
"datePublished": "2019",
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "Periodical",
"name": "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species"
},
"identifier": "doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-4.rlts.t6909a160756767.en"
}
],
"about": {
"@type": "Taxon",
"name": "Dugong",
"scientificName": "Dugong dugon",
"description": "Rips up whole seagrass plants with a flexible upper lip"
}
},
{
"@type": "FAQPage",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dugong/#faq",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Is a dugong the same as a manatee?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "No, though they are cousins. A dugong's tail has a straight or concave edge and works like a propeller, while a manatee's tail is shaped like a paddle.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Dugong dugon (dugong)",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dugong_dugon/",
"author": "Macdonald",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan"
}
}
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How often does a dugong have a calf?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Slowly. Pregnancy lasts 13 to 14 months, and a female produces one calf every 2.5 to 7 years, depending on where she lives. The calf weighs about 30 kg at birth and suckles for 18 months or longer.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Dugong dugon (dugong)",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dugong_dugon/",
"author": "Macdonald",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan"
}
}
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Are dugongs at risk of extinction?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Threats include hunting, fishing nets, boat strikes and habitat loss.",
"citation": {
"@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
"name": "Dugong dugon. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T6909A160756767",
"url": "https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-4.rlts.t6909a160756767.en",
"author": "Marsh & Sobtzick",
"datePublished": "2019",
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "Periodical",
"name": "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species"
},
"identifier": "doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-4.rlts.t6909a160756767.en"
}
}
}
]
},
{
"@type": "MusicRecording",
"name": "Sunflower",
"byArtist": {
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "Low"
},
"genre": "Slowcore & Minimal Indie",
"url": "https://open.spotify.com/track/5MLBottNJ4s4yL6t9sIryD"
}
]
}
```