Bangkok (AFP)

Mariam, a dugong baby - also known as a marine cow - who became a social media star in Thailand, died in the night from Friday to Saturday of an infection made worse by plastic waste found in her stomach, authorities said on Saturday.

The small, chubby-looking animal was found stranded and separated from his mother on a beach in May, only six months old.

The images of the veterinarians giving him the baby bottle at sea had quickly become viral on social networks.

"Mariam died just after midnight after a trauma and our efforts to save her have failed," Chaiyapruk Werawong, the head of the Trang Province Marine Park, told AFP that the animal had been collected. .

South Thailand, whose waters are full of plastic, is home to about 250 sea cows, a species close to endangered manatees.

Mariam "succumbed to a blood and stomach infection and we found plastic residue in her intestinal tract," he added.

"The autopsy showed that plastic is the cause of the obstruction of the animal's stomach," said Nantarika Chansue, one of the veterinarians on her facebook page.

"With her departure, it's like she's begging us to take better care of them and save her species," she added.

Shortly after Mariam, another dugong orphan baby was rescued in this area, and dubbed "Jamil" by a Thai princess. A 24-hour live video was set up to follow live meals and care given to both marine mammals by veterinarians.

The death of Mariam was stirring Saturday morning on the facebook page of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, generating more than 11,000 shares and thousands of bereaved comments.

"What sadness (...) that we had to lose Mariam because of plastic waste" said a comment.

Jamil, who means "pretty prince of the seas", is still recovering in a marine center in Phuket (south).

The Southeast Asian countries, which are among the biggest polluters in the world, pledged to fight against ocean pollution at the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ) in Bangkok at the end of June.

Five Asian countries alone (China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand) are responsible for more than half of the eight million tonnes of plastic discarded annually in the oceans, according to a 2017 report by NGO Ocean Conservancy.

© 2019 AFP