Dugongs are an endangered marine species like sea turtles, seahorses, sea cucumbers and others.
They are protected in India under Schedule I of the Wild (Life) Protection Act, 1972.
There were just 250 dugongs in the Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat according to the 2013 survey report of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
Seagrass in Odisha’s Chilika lake is a proper habitat for dugongs.
However, there is not extant population in Chilika.