The dugong was declared "extinct" in China last week after researchers from the Zoological Society of London and the Chinese Academy of Sciences failed to find its existence in the South China Sea since 2008.
Functional extinction status is given to species that have not been truly declared extinct because they may still be in the wild but it is not enough to continue the survival of the species. The same species also still exists in zoos. The study was conducted in 66 fishing community locations in Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong and Fujian with only a small number of respondents answering that they had seen wild dugongs before 2008.
The dugong's habitat in China is being destroyed by human development, with the seaweed that becomes a food source diminishing. Fishing activities also result in the death of dugongs when they are run over.
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