Pig and Wuru ( I am not sure who this is ) are the only dugongs on display in Australia and two of only six - and the only pair - on display anywhere in the world. Both dugongs were rescued after being orphaned separately in the wild, both at just a few days old.
Pig is now 14 years old and was rescued from Forrest Beach in North Queensland when he became separated from his mother at a very early age.
Wuru, is 8 years old, and was also orphaned early. And although she's much younger than Pig, at over 400kg she's actually twice his size - as is the norm for female dugongs.
Pig and Wuru are big eaters, and feed pretty much constantly from 8am to 9pm every day. In the wild, dugongs eat huge amounts of seagrass, and the closest match to that at Sydney Aquarium is lettuce. Pig and Wuru love cos, and eat about 45kg each every day, with occasional side treats of bok choy and spinach. The cos is washed and threaded into special weighted racks, which sit on the bottom of the dugongs' lagoon, enabling them to graze as they would in the wild.
In the wild, dugongs mainly live in the warm shallow coastal waters of northern Australia, but occasionally stray further south. They have a similar lifespan to humans and are most closely related not to any other sea creature, but to elephants.
Australia has the world's largest dugong population, with 100,000 of the sea creatures estimated to be living in the waters of northern Australia and the Torres Strait. But the population is still under threat, most of which is from habitat loss due to coastal development and boat traffic. As female dugongs may not reach maturity till they're 10-17 years of age, and only give birth every three to seven years, population numbers can be slow to recover. It's not known yet whether a breeding program in captivity may be possible.
"All right, Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my closeup"
http://365project.org/annied/the-ones-i-left/2014-07-06
