TIRUCHY: Thanjavur forest officials lauded the Mallipattinam fishermen, who safely released a young dugong stuck in their net on Thursday.

Dugongs, commonly known as Sea Cows, are an endangered marine species for which the government has been initiating several schemes to conserve the marine mammal.

The forest officials have been creating awareness programmes for the fishermen on the conservation of dugongs, which exist in the coastal regions of Thanjavur and Pudukkottai.

Against such a backdrop, on Thursday, while a group of fishermen – Subramanian, Kalyani and Chithiraivel from Anna Nagar in Mallipattinam in Thanjavur who were fishing off Mallipattinam coast in their country boat, a two-year-old dugong weighing around 30 kg was trapped in their net.

Despite the animal damaging their nets, the fishers who had been instructed had been released back into the sea.

They also video recorded the incident and passed it on to the Thanjavur forest officials.

Subsequently, the District Forest Officer Ananda Kumar, along with Pattukkottai Forest Ranger AS Chandrasekaran, visited the fishers and appreciated their efforts in rescuing and releasing the young dugong into the sea again.

Chandrasekaran said that the fishers from the region have been cooperating well with the forest department in conserving the endangered species of the dugong.