Animal of the week!
Hey all and welcome again to Cherry's 18th edition of
"Animal of the week". Here again are a few breif facts on this week's
animal.
This week's animal...The Walrus
from Compton's Concise Encyclopedia
Copyright (c) 1995 Compton's NewMedia, Inc.
Walrus are found only in the Arctic seas. One group lives in the
North Atlantic south to Labrador. A second population is found in the
North Pacific from the Bering Sea to south of the Pribilof Islands.
The only difference between the two groups is size: the North Pacific
walrus is larger. The Aleut natives of the Pribilofs call the walrus
amak or amaghak. The Inuit (Eskimo) know the walrus as aivik. Until
the 18th century the English name for the walrus was morse.
The name walrus means "whale-horse."
The average adult male walrus is more than 10 feet (3 meters) long
and can weigh more than 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms).
There is no distinct tail. The
eyes are small, and the head is relatively small for such a large
body. There are stiff bristles or whiskers above the upper lip.
Both sexes have tusks, or enlarged upper canines, that project downward
from the mouth. The male's tusks are longer and thicker than the female's.
Walrus feed on mollusks, small crustaceans, fish, and echinoderms starfish,
sea urchins, and their relatives. Occasionally, walrus feed on young
seals and even on young walrus, though it is thought that this occurs
only when other forms of food are unavailable.
Walrus spend nearly their entire life at sea, but they frequently
climb onto ice or rocky islands to rest and to mate and give birth.
They are social animals and travel in small groups. When congregating
on pack ice, the herds may number in the several thousands.
In winter a walrus can inhabit waters covered with thick, close-packed ice
because it can make breathing holes by breaking the thick ice with its head.
Bulls compete for mature females
rather than for territory. Aggressiveness and the size of body and
tusks determine an adult male's social status. Walrus can bellow and
make an elephant-like trumpeting sound.
The gestation period is about 11 months, and usually a single calf
is born in mid-April to mid-June. The calf remains with its mother
for about two years, nursing for most of that period. The female is
very protective of her young.
The indigenous peoples of the Arctic have hunted the walrus for
centuries. They eat the meat and use the bones, tusks, and hide for
tools, shelters, boats, and clothing. In the 1800s, however, people
of other regions began large-scale hunting of the walrus for the
animal's ivory tusks, hide, and oil. The herds declined, and the
walrus populations were seriously threatened. In the late 20th
century, the Pacific walrus population was increasing, but few walrus
remained in the eastern North Atlantic, where the animals were once
abundant. The good thing is, commercial harvesting of walruses is no
longer permitted.
