The American Centre under the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City launched a logo design contest for a “Save the Dugong” campaign on March 20.

The contest is open to permanent residents of Vietnam , excluding employees of the US government or their immediate family members.

The logo can be any kind of artwork or graphic design that evokes the “Save the Dugong” theme.

Digital entries must be created digitally and formatted as a high-resolution JPG file, print resolution at least 300 DPI. A vectorised logo is preferred.

Entrants are encouraged to depict a dugong, or a mother dugong and calf, but artists are also encouraged to produce any design that tells the dugongs’ story.

The logo could incorporate the text “Save the Dugong” in either English or Vietnamese, or both. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday, April 12, 2013.

The dugong, a threatened manatee-like marine mammal with a limited coastal range from Australia through India , is nearing extinction in Vietnamese waters.

Marginal populations of dugong have been verified off of Phu Quoc Island and in the Con Dao archipelago.-VNA