470 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



Corwin cruised for hours along the edge of the ice pack off the 

 Arctic coast of Alaska, where "we saw an almost unbroken line 

 of walruses hauled out on the ice, forming an extended herd 

 which must have contained tens of thousands. " They are still 

 common on parts of the Arctic coast of eastern Asia but seem 

 easily disturbed when hunted. Bernard (1923) has indicated 

 how, at a place on the Siberian coast about 20 miles from East 

 Cape, the Eskimos by being careful not to kill more than they 

 needed for meat had succeeded in encouraging the walruses in 

 increasing numbers to return to a traditional "hauling ground" 

 near their village. Here on a beach about a mile long the 

 natives at a given time lance the animals with as little dis- 

 turbance as possible, and thereafter leave them in peace. 



In early days walruses were common about the Pribilof 

 Islands and at Walrus Island. With the coming of sealers, 

 however, the walruses have become very rare. Hanna (1923) 

 writes that he knows of but two breeding rookeries of walruses 

 in Bering Sea: one in the eastern part of one of the group of 

 Walrus Islands, off Togiak Bay, and one on Hall Island, the 

 westernmost of the St. Matthew group. The first herd that 

 he saw in 1911 contained over 300 animals, while the second in 

 1916 was estimated to be of about 500. At the present time, 

 Townsend (in Gray, P. N., 1932, p. 175) believes that "the 

 walrus is probably holding its own in the Pacific, largely due 

 to the decline in commercial hunting. " Madison Grant (1933) 

 recommends that Hall Island be made a sanctuary for these 

 animals and polar bears, as it is entirely treeless and unin- 

 habited. In Alaska there is now a closed season at all times on 

 both walruses and sea-lions, although a limited number may 

 be permitted under special conditions (Kept. U. S. Comm. 

 Fisheries, 1929). Eastward of Alaska walruses are now ap- 

 parently much less numerous than formerly. Dr. R. M. 

 Anderson (1937) quotes Macfarlane as to their one-time 

 abundance between Point Barrow and Cape Bathurst; on 

 several trips to Franklin Bay between 1862 and 1865 he had 

 seen a few in the pack ice. Now, however, "records from the 

 northern Alaskan coast and east of the Mackenzie delta during 

 recent years are rare and doubtful. One was killed at Herschel 

 Island in 1911, and one at King Point, Yukon Territory, in 

 October, 1914, and there is a hearsay record of one stranded 

 in Dolphin and Union strait some years prior to 1914." 



