What is being done to help the walrus?

What is being done to help the walrus?

SAVING THE PACIFIC WALRUS As walruses’ icy abode melts away, their habitat is being auctioned off to oil companies to extract more fossil fuels. The Center is working to protect the Pacific walrus from the double-barreled threats of oil development and global warming.

Do walruses need sea ice?

Walruses depend on sea ice as a platform for feeding and resting, and a warming Arctic is disrupting their normal patterns. In the past decade, earlier melting of sea ice in the summer has forced abnormally large numbers of Pacific walruses ashore on the coasts of Russia and Alaska.

Why do walruses need sea ice?

These beasts use sea ice for resting and giving birth. And not any ice will suffice; it has to be thick enough to support their weight, which can reach up to 4000 pounds. Their blubber serves as a layer of insulation in the cold marine environment and helps them store energy.

How are walruses affected by melting ice?

When ice melted in alarming quantities, forcing females and their calves to shore in herds as large as 40,000, government scientists in 2008 tagged and tracked walruses to see how the changes affected their feeding. There have been previous geological time periods when walruses experienced a lack of sea ice, said Jay.

What is the lifespan of a walrus?

approximately 40 years
LIFE CYCLE: The maximum lifespan of a walrus is approximately 40 years. FEEDING: Walruses eat clams, crabs, shrimp, soft corals, sea cucumbers, and various other mollusks. They use their extremely sensitive “whiskers” to identify food.

Is a walrus a tusk?

Their tusks, which are found on both males and females, can extend to about three feet, and are, in fact, large canine teeth, which grow throughout their lives. Male walruses, or bulls, also employ their tusks aggressively to maintain territory and, during mating season, to protect their harems of females, or cows.

Is a walrus a seal or sea lion?

Walrus are the largest pinniped. Seals, sea lions, and walruses belong to a group of marine mammals called pinnipeds, referring to their flippered feet. Seals (true seals or earless seals) have no external ear flaps. Walrus are the largest pinnipeds, with some males registering over 3,000 pounds.

Are walruses smart?

Walruses are intelligent animals. Scientists are gathering evidence that the walrus is the most cognitively and socially sophisticated of all pinnipeds. The upper canine teeth of the walrus are known as morse or tusks.

What is molting and why do the walrus need to do it?

Molting in walruses is gradual – individual hairs fall out and are replaced. Calves shed a fine prenatal coat, called lanugo, about two to three months before they are born. They molt again at about one to two months.

How old is the oldest walrus?

The 27-year-old Atlantic walrus died of old age Sunday, said veterinarian William Torgerson. Olga, who weighed about 2,700 pounds, had been at the Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago since 1962, when she was a 6-month old pup. ″She was quite a character,″ said zoo spokeswoman Linda Elbert.

Is it illegal to own a walrus tusk?

The Laws: There are various federal laws regulating ivory and now some states have enacted ivory laws. It is legal under federal law to buy/sell walrus and narwhal ivory possessed before the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

What do walruses do with the sea ice?

Walruses use sea ice for giving birth, nursing and resting between dives for food but the amount of ice over several decades has steadily declined due to climate warming. (Ryan Kingsbery/U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

How long will the Pacific walrus be ice free?

Climate models project that this ice-free season could last from 9-11 months by the end of the century, altogether eliminating the Pacific walrus’ preferred sea ice habitat. As available ice declines (right now we’re losing 12% each decade) it is appearing farther and farther North.

What kind of food does a walrus eat?

Walruses feed on clams and a wide variety of other invertebrates from the seafloor. They rest between feeding trips on sea ice or land. Sea ice provides walruses with a resting platform, access to offshore feeding areas, and seclusion from humans and predators.

When do walruses mate and when do they give birth?

Walruses give birth on sea ice in the late spring and mate along ice edges in the drifting pack-ice during the winter. They also use ice extensively as a haul-out platform throughout much or all of the year, depending on sex, season and general availability of sea ice in areas that afford feeding opportunities.