Villagers saved an injured dugong on a beach in Thailand's Trang province. The 4ft-long female marine mammal was stranded on the seashore when they found it.

Footage shows men trying to heave the animal back to the sea. They covered it using a huge cloth to avoid further injuries as they pushed it.

However, the dugong kept wriggling because of the pain, so the villagers decided to sprinkle water on it to make it more slippery.

Village chief Phan Mhadabu said: "We were worried that it could suffocate if we didn't act immediately".

The men managed to push the animal to a deep-water area so it could move easily and freely. The footage captures the moment the dugong finally swims back to the sea.

Locals believe that the beaching was the result of the dugong's attraction to seaweeds and lime leaves that grew near the shallow pool. It is very likely that strong tides swept it toward the sharp rocks.

Hero villagers saved an injured dugong after it was stranded on a beach in Thailand.

The locals saw the 4ft-long bloodied female marine mammal weakly flapping on the sand in Trang province on June 7.

They believe that the creature was attracted to seaweeds and lime leaves that grew near the shallow pool but strong tides swept it towards the sharp rocks.

Footage shows the men heaving the animal back to the sea while others poured ocean water on it.

Village chief Phan Mhadabu said: ‘We were worried that it could suffocate if we didn't act immediately so we pushed the creature back to the deeper water.'

The kind villagers covered dugong using a huge cloth to avoid further injuries as they pushed it.

However, the creature kept wriggling because of the pain so the villagers decided to sprinkle water on it in order to make it more slippery.

Eventually, the villagers successfully took it to it to an area deep enough so it could move freely and the dugong swam back to the sea.