Despite a dwindling population of the dugong, a manatee like marine mammal, the Queensland Government has decided not to ban hunting the species. Dugongs mostly reside in the northern waters of Australia and are one of the beautiful sights along with the Great Barrier Reef that vacationers can go to see in such waters. An investigation into the cruel ways the mammals are being hunted was initiated after ABC network aired footage that showed them being butchered alive.
Although new legislation introduced this week does not restrict hunting the dugong altogether, it does restrict hunters from inflicting unreasonable pain on the animal during hunting. A member of RSPCA, a leading UK animal welfare charity, commented that the government should be commended and that a ban on hunting would be unreasonable because it would involve policing. Other animal activist state that hunting of the dugong should be banned altogether because of the risks of extinction. The same activists claim that one of the reasons tourists come to the area is to see the rare dugong. In response to this, the RSPCA website claims tourism is one of the reasons for the declining population of the dugong and does not mention that hunting of the dugong could lead to extinction. Sources researched did not explain a roll out plan for policing the new legislation to protect the dugong from unreasonable pain nor did it expound on the definition of unreasonable pain.