A new study on the New Caledonian dugong has revealed its population is the least diverse in the world.
Environmentalists said it reinforces the need to act quickly to protect the surviving population of the sea cow from extinction.
The paper was led by New Caledonian scientific groups and James Cook University in Australia who have compared DNA between the dugong in Australia and the world to the New Caledonian population.
It showed the genetic make up of both populations were very different and points out individuals did not travel between territories.
Photo: 123RF
This means groups of dugong from different parts of the world could not be mixed if numbers in Caledonia reached an all time low, due to the genetic difference being too big.
There are currently 700 to 800 of the marine mammal found in New Caledonia.
These genetic differences have huge consequences on the conservation of the New Caledonian dugong population, World Wide Fund spokesperson in Noumea, Marc Oremus, said.
"These studies show that we can not count on the Australian dugongs to repopulate the Caledonian waters if it were to become too low.
"It is absolutely necessary to make the point on the state of the species and to put measures that destroys dangers that the population faces.
"The study shows that we are at high risk of losing the population in a short term and forever," Oremus said.
The dugong is classed as a vulnerable species but the low numbers in New Caledonia might be a lever to classify the species as endangered scientists say.