Baby dugong clings to Thai vets

Feeling at home: (Left) Officials of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources feeding milk to Marium on Libong island, Trang province in Thailand. (Top) Marium clinging to one of its carers. — AP

BANGKOK: A baby dugong, a large ocean mammal, that has developed an attachment to humans after being separated from its mother and getting lost off southern Thailand is being nurtured by marine experts in hopes that it can one day fend for itself.The estimated five-month-old female dugong named Marium has become an Internet hit in Thailand after images of marine biologists embracing and feeding it with milk and sea grass spread across social media.

Marium was spotted alone near a beach on Ko Poda island in Krabi province in April.