INTRODUCTION 
Two subspecies of walrus, that together have a circumpolar 
distribution in the Arctic, are recognized in current literature. They 
are the Atlantic walrus and the Pacific walrus. 
The Atlantic walrus, 0. r. rosmarus, now occurs sparsely from 
the Canadian Archipelago eastward to Greenland, Spitzbergen, and the 
Laptev Sea. It formerly ranged in some numbers south as far as the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, but because of greatly reduced populations, now is sel- 
dom found south of Hudson Bay (Dunbar, 1956). Overexploitation in the 
historic past has greatly reduced populations of both subspecies, with 
the Atlantic walrus suffering the greater depletion. Concern over the 
plight of the latter subspecies is evident from the papers presented at 
the Fifth Technical Meeting of the International Union for the Protection 
of Nature by Vibe concerning Greenland and Dunbar for Canada (Vibe, 1956; 
Dunbar, 1956). Kleynenberg (1957) expresses the concern of the U.S.S.R. 
over populations of both races in Russian waters. The steps taken by 
the respective nations for protection of the walrus are also outlined in 
the above papers. Further discussion of this subspecies is omitted from 
this paper. 
The Pacific walrus, Odobenus rosmarus divergens occurs in the 
waters adjacent to Alaska and the Chukotsk Peninsula, from Barrow on the 
east to the East Siberian Sea on the west. Only the Pacific walrus oc- 
curs in waters adjacent to United States territory; it also ranges in 
international waters and in the territorial waters of the U.S.S.R. 
Fay (1957) has documented well, from the fragmentary 
information available, the history of the exploitation and consequent 
decline of the Pacific walrus population. Perhaps the following table, 
adapted from Fay (1957), is the most graphic demonstration of the decline 
that has occurred. 
Table 1. Approximate number of Pacific walruses harvested annually 
within historic times and the minimum size of populations from which 
they could have been drawn (from Fay, 1957). 


Term : Harvest Mid-term Population 
1650-1790 5,000 - 6,000 200,000 
1790-1860 10,000 - 15,000 200 ,000 
1860-1880 15,000 - 20,000 150,000 
1880-1910 8,000 - 12,000 80,000 
1910-1930 5,000 - 7,000 60,000 
1930-1950 6,000 - 7,000 60 , 000 
1950-1956 5,000 - 6,000 45,000 
a 
