ECOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF THE PACIFIC WALRUS 



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than in any other pinniped. The cows are highly solicitous of their offspring and 

 are extremely protective, as noted earlier by many observers (e.g., see review by 

 Allen 1880). The social bond is not "absolutely unbreakable" as Brooks (1954) 

 supposed, but it seems to be unusual for a cow to become separated from her calf 

 except under the most frightening circumstances. In some 50 encounters between 

 Eskimos and walrus cows with young calves, I observed only six separations that 

 resulted in the calves' being captured while the mothers escaped, apparently 

 unharmed. On one occasion, a small herd was stampeded into the water, leaving 

 behind an injured calf imprisoned in a smooth-sided crater in the ice. After a few 

 minutes, one of the cows returned to the floe, emerged from the water, and 

 approached the barking calf, even to within 2 m of the waiting hunters. This 

 cow was shot, and the condition of her uterus, in regard to state of involution 

 since parturition, seemed consistent with the state of development of the calf; 

 hence, I presumed that she was its mother. 



Burns (1965:32) observed that, when alarmed, "cows often pushed the calves 

 into the water before entering themselves," and that the youngsters tended to be 

 "herded" away by the older animals (Fig. 121). "The hollering of the calves can 

 be heard at a considerable distance, and the older animals continue to return to 

 the edge of the ice until the last of the noisy calves has been encouraged to leave." 

 Lamont (1861:70,81,84) noted that the barking calves tend to attract other 

 walruses. 



Calves whose mothers had been shot usually remained with them and were 

 easily captured by the hunters. Occasionally, a calf escaped into the water. 



Fig. 121. A group of female Pacific walruses herding their calves into the water. (Photo by 

 L. M. Shults) 



