What Kind Of Animal Is A Walrus

Walrus

Population size

over 225,000

The walrus is a big marine mammal of the Arctic with flippers, a brusque muzzle, a broad caput, minor optics, whiskers, and tusks. The two subspecies are the Pacific walrus and the Atlantic walrus. Their colour is cinnamon brownish. Their large front flippers each have 5 digits. Males and females both have big tusks used for defense, getting out of the water, and cut through water ice. These are elongated canines, which are present in both male person and female person walruses and can reach a length of 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and weigh up to 5.four kg (12 lb).

Photos with Walrus

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Distribution

Geography

Walruses live throughout the Pacific and northern Atlantic Oceans on rocky coastlines and water ice floes. They spend well-nigh of their time in shallow waters (and the nearby ice floes) hunting for food. Despite suiting freezing northern conditions, walruses take ventured further south to Central Canada and the United Kingdom, even near the Spanish coast.

Biome

Climate zones

Habits and Lifestyle

Walruses are extremely sociable animals, living in large herds of upward to thousands in number, mainly females with their immature, and some ascendant males. Male walruses fight with their tusks to compete for females and plant dominance. They brand a diversity of sounds including loud bellows produced via 2 pouches of air that are in their necks. These animals are diurnal. When not in the water, they feed and rest on body of water ice. Walruses adopt shallow shelf regions and forage primarily on the seafloor, often from sea ice platforms. They are not particularly deep divers compared to other pinnipeds but tin can dive to depths beyond 500 meters. When feeding on their favorite mollusks, walruses find them by grazing forth the sea lesser, searching and identifying prey with their sensitive vibrissae and clearing the murky bottoms with jets of water and active flipper movements.

Diet and Nutrition

Walruses are carnivores (molluscivores) and hunt other animals to survive. They swallow clams, snails, worms, octopuses, squid, and some types of slow-moving fish. They volition consume young seal carcasses when food is scarce.

Mating Habits

Walruses are polygamous pregnant that males mate with more than 1 female. Convenance occurs betwixt January and March. Later on the gestation period of about xv months females give birth to a single pup is produced. Calves weigh 45 to 75 kg (99 to 165 lb) at birth and are able to swim. The mothers nurse for over a yr before weaning, but the immature can spend up to 5 years with the mothers. They drink merely mother'southward milk for 6 months and then first to eat solid foods. Young females can reproduce at near 6 or 7 years but males not until they are 10, though 5 years later when they have proved their dominance might exist more successful.

Population

Population threats

Humans are a threat, hunting them for their hides, basic, tusks, and oil. Water pollution is as well a threat in certain areas. Potential threats are climate change and global warming causing changes and loss of suitable habitats and an increase in aircraft and development of oil and gas fields.

Population number

Co-ordinate to IUCN, the overall population of walrus is likely greater than 225,000 individuals, comprising about 25,000 Atlantic walruses and 200,000 Pacific walruses. Currently, this species is classified every bit Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Ruddy List.

Ecological niche

Walruses are considered to exist a "keystone species" in the Arctic marine regions. They feed on large numbers of organisms and their foraging has a big peripheral impact on benthic communities. When foraging walruses disturb the seafloor, releasing nutrients into the h2o column; this style they encourage the mixing and movement of many organisms and increment the patchiness of the benthos.

Fun Facts for Kids

• Walrus tusks are their big teeth, which never stop growing.
• Walruses pull themselves onto land with their tusks.
• Walruses are able to concord their breath for as much every bit xxx minutes nether the water.
• Walruses stampede toward open water when startled, sometimes burdensome calves as they do so. This is perhaps why females form separate herds with their calves.
• Walruses have an first-class sense of smell and hearing merely poor eyesight.
• Walruses dig out clams, shellfish, and other food by squirting jets of h2o out of their mouths.
• A walrus will break the ice by hitting its head against it. Its tusks are and so used to increase the size of the hole.

References

More than Fascinating Animals to Learn About

Source: https://animalia.bio/walrus

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