PACIFIC WALRUS 



The walrus lives among ice floes north of Bristol Bay, Alaska. It 

 travels through international waters and is remote from the sight of man 

 most of the year. The Walrus Act of 1941 prohibits the killing of walrus 

 by persons other than aborigines and prohibits the exportation of raw 

 walrus-tusk ivory from Alaska. Eskimos kill annually about 1, 300 wal- 

 ruses, of which they and their sled dogs use part of the flesh, fat, skin, 

 and viscera. They carve the ivory into objects of art having an annual 

 retail value of more than $150, 000. While the present rate of hunting 

 does not seem to be endangering the breeding stock, the isolated loca- 

 tions of walrus hunting make it very difficult to enforce sound manage- 

 ment and conservation policies. In addition to man, the only important 

 enemies of the walrus are the killer whale and perhaps the polar bear. 

 Several hundred walruses were smothered to death on St. Lawrence 

 Island when they rushed ashore, frightened by a pack of killer whales. 



The Pacific walrus differs slightly in appearance from the Atlantic 

 walrus. It is regarded by some zoologists as a separate species. 



Description 



Adult males attain a weight of 3, 000 pounds and a length of 12 feet; 

 females 1, 800 povmds and 10 feet. Newborn calves weigh 100 to 150 

 pounds and measure 45 to 50 inches in length. (The baby walrus is called 

 a "calf" while the young of other seals are called "pups". ) The bull may 

 be full grown at age 7 years; the cow at age 6. The pelt of the newborn 

 calf is slate gray in color, molting in the first summer to a dark rusty 

 brown and changing in older animals to a light tan. In mature animals, 

 especially in the bulls, nearly all of the hair falls out, leaving the rough, 

 warty hide exposed. 



The walrus is the only representative of its family and it shares with 

 both the otarid seals and the phocid seals certain features of anatomy. The 

 adult is obese and deeply wrinkled. The prominent white tusks found in both 



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