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Why are walruses so big?
Walruses maintain such a high body weight because of the blubber stored underneath their skin. This blubber keeps them warm and the fat provides energy to the walrus.
How big do walruses grow?
Walruses weigh from 600 to 1,500 kilograms (1,320 to 3,300 lbs.) and can be as long as 3.2 meters (10.5 feet), according to the Animal Diversity Web (ADW), a database maintained by the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan.
What is the life cycle of a walrus?
Birth takes place on the pack ice; the calf nurses for about 2 years and spends 3 to 5 years with its mother. Females mature at about 6 years, males at 9 or 10. A walrus lives about 50 years. Walruses have only three natural enemies: humans, orca, and the polar bear.
How do walruses reproduce?
Walruses mate both in the water and on land, and may copulate several times to increase the chance of fertilization. Like other mammals, they mate using internal reproduction. Males have penile bones with which they extend their reproductive organs.
Does walrus migrate?
MIGRATION: Pacific walruses winter in the central and south Bering Sea and summer in the Chukchi Sea. Adult females and their young are migratory, following the sea ice edge north in the summer, while males remain in the south and haul out onto rocky beaches when the ice melts.
How does a walrus move on land?
Like the sea lion and fur seal (family Otariidae), the walrus can turn its hind flippers forward under its body when on land and can thus crawl using all four limbs. Males mate with multiple females in winter. Dominance is established among males according to body and tusk size.
What is the lifespan of a walrus?
Sexual maturity occurs at six to seven years of age in females, eight to ten years in males. In the wild, walrus can live slightly more than 40 years. On rare occasions they are killed by polar bears or killer whales.
How are walruses selected for breeding?
During mating season, walruses amass by the thousands. A herd is usually segregated by gender; females have their own herds, and males have their own herds. The dominant males are chosen by age, body size and tusk length. Walruses are very fat, but for good reason.
What does a walrus eat in the ocean?
The walrus feeds at depths of less than 80 metres (260 feet), usually at 10–50 metres (30–160 feet). Rooting along the ocean floor with its snout, it identifies prey with its whiskers. The walrus’s diet consists largely of clams and mussels but occasionally includes fish and even small seals.