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Walrus
 


Walrus


Appearance




Their large size, bristle-like whiskers and long, white tusks make the walrus easy to recognize. Other characteristics include a round-shaped body with a rather square-shaped head, small blood shot eyes and rough, wrinkled skin sparsely covered in reddish-brown hair.

Adult males range from 2.7 metres to 3.7 metres long (9 feet to 12 feet) and may weigh anywhere from 1,100 to 1,500 kg. (2,420 lbs. to 3,300 lbs.) Walruses from the Pacific are larger than those from the Atlantic. Female walruses are smaller than male walruses reaching lengths from 2.4 metres to 3 metres (8 feet to 10 feet) and weighing from 350 to 1,200 kg (770 to 2,640 lbs.). Females have smaller heads than males and their tusks are not as thick or as long.

The tusks of the walrus are very long, upper canine teeth. Tusks begin to grow when a calf is only 4 months old and are 2.54 cm (1 inch) long by the time a calf is one year old. An adult male's tusks can grow as long as 101.6 cm (40 inches) and a female's tusks can grow as long as 78.7 cm (31 inches). Tusks help the walrus climb onto ice floes. They are also used to fend off predators, to dig through the sandy ocean bottom for food and, most importantly, to establish social dominance.

Habitat


Walruses are found in the arctic regions of Canada, Alaska, Siberia and Greenland. Walruses primarily inhabit coastal waters.

Diet


As mentioned above, walruses use their tusks to dig through the soft ocean bottom to obtain their main source of food - clams. The walrus sucks or tears the meat from the shell before it is swallowed. Other sources of food are sea cucumbers, crustaceans, polar cod and worms. Walruses have also been known to eat seals, belugas and narwhals.

Reproduction and Offspring


The walrus is a highly social animal and groups together in large herds numbering in the hundreds. For most of the year, males and females remain in separate herds. During January and February, the males gather with the females to mate. The larger males compete with one another for the females. This activity involves the males trying to attract the attention of the females by swimming alongside the females resting on the ice and performing both visual and auditory displays. These visual and auditory displays are also intended to ward off other males. At times, competing males will engage in fierce fighting leaving them with deep cuts inflicted by their large tusks.

Calves are born April through June fifteen months after fertilization has occurred. Females normally give birth to one calf. A calf measures about 122-cm (4 feet) long and weighs about 50 to 60 kg. (110 - 132 lbs.). A calf remains with its mother for two years.

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