Indigenous Use and Trade of Dugong (Dugong dugon) in Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract

Dugongs (Dugongidae: Dugong dugon) are represented by relic populations separated by areas where they are close to extinction if they not already extinct. However, in 1999, the dugong was determined to still exist in Malaysian waters after a spate of dugong deaths was reported in waters near Johors, in peninsular Malaysia. This incident focused attention on the status of dugongs in Malaysia, which has led to renewed interest in conducting research on dugongs. In eastern Malaysia, dugongs exist in small fragmented populations along the coastal seagrass regions of Sandakan District, Teluk Brunei, and Kudat District in Sabah (2, 3). In the past and, to some extent in the present, the dugong has been exploited by people for various uses. The remaining dugong populations are decreasing in Sabah due to various threats; namely, incidental catching and fish bombing, habitat loss as a result of land reclamation, and pollution from palm oil plantations and sedimentation (2-4). This report provides information on the traditional uses and anthropogenic threats to the remaining dugong populations in Sabah.