3. Mortality (estimated at 12 percent for males and 15 percent 
for females) exceeds recruitment (11 percent) on the basis of the small 
samples available. 
4. The tusk lengths reported by Freimann(1940) exhibit a higher 
proportion of old animals than the more recent ones of Brooks (1954) and 
Fay (1955). This suggests a declining population, when interpreted in 
the light of selective hunting. 
5. The total annual kill is estimated at 10,500 (see "Harvest"'), 
which is 23 percent of the estimated population, and more than twice the 
estimated annual recruitment of 11 percent. The annual kill in Alaskan 
waters is estimated at 2,200, which is 22 percent of the maximum number 
estimated to have passed through the eastern side of Bering Strait. 
WALRUS USE AND WASTE 
Value of the Walrus 
Scammon (1874) describes the usefulness of the walruses to the 
Eskimo of the Bering and Chukchi seacoasts as follows: "To the natives 
of the coasts where the walrus frequents, the animal is of indispensable 
value. The flesh supplies them with food; the ivory tusks are made into 
implements used in the chase, and for other domestic purposes, as well 
as affording a valuable article of barter; and the skin furnishes the 
material for covering their summer habitations, planking for their 
baidarras, harness for their dog-teams, and lines for their fishing-gear." 
Walruses are still used for all of these purposes, and in addition the 
intestines are made into rain parkas, the stomach contents are eaten, and 
the bacula are sold as curios. But the relative importance of the various 
parts of the walruses to the Eskimos is changed considerably. Today, the 
ivory tusks are of first interest to the Eskimos, and much waste results 
from their hunting the animals primarily for ivory. 
It is undoubtedly true that the walrus furnishes the basis for 
subsistence at several Alaskan villages. While acknowledging that walrus 
meat for dog food and human consumption is of great importance, we will 
consider here the monetary value of walrus products other than meat. 
The greatest incentive to walrus harvest throughout Alaska is 
the value of the ivory tusks. Fay (1958) at Gambell estimates that the 
carved ivory from each adult walrus now brings an average of $125 -- he 
further states that "This figure could conceivably be doubled if only 
the most experienced and capable carvers did the work, for there is an 
enormous waste of monetary potential in the carvings of novices and 
second-rate craftsmen."" Very little ivory leaves Gambell in the "raw" 
state. 
12 
