Si Tenang, the little dugong that stole our hearts

Pak Atan (right) and his family members could not hold back their tears as they held the dead body of Si Tenang, the baby dugong, back in 1999. Filepic

The case of Si Tenang the baby dugong captured national attention in 1999.

Atan Hussin (Pak Atan), a fisherman in southern Johor, had accidentally caught a baby dugong in his net. Finding that it had been bruised, he decided to take care of it at his kelong (a floating raft house with nets). He and his family grew fonder of this baby marine mammal and named it Si Tenang.