Port Blair, April 26: In an unprecedented first for India, GreenLife Society has claimed to have a video footage of two Dugongs mating on Neil Island in November 2012. The video footage came to light when Principle Investigator for Dugong dugon Hasmukh Jiwa was doing his routine yearly survey of the islands for Dugong activity.

“I was asking my local network in Neil, if they have recorded any incidents and one of the guys said we have something”. When looking at the footage Jiwa commented “This was by far the best footage we have in India of Dugongs mating. I have never seen this behaviour in real life but you can describe it like a male elephant in musth as the male was very aggressive to the female and was trying to mate with her right on the beach pushing her and guiding her with his tail and torso.”

The Dugong is a schedule one animal and on the brink of extinction in India the gestation period for a Dugong is 13-15 months.  Jiwa further said “If this breeding was successful in November 2012 we can look forward to new baby in Dec-Jan-Feb 2014 which would be just wonderful”.

GreenLife Society has been working around India and internationally on the protection of Dugongs and Manatees (the cousin of the Dugong) for the last 12 years.