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WALRUS (Odobenus rosmarus)
The walrus is one of the most charismatic mammals in Svalbard. It is very social, and you
often see walruses lying close together in large groups on land. A walrus bull can be up to
four metres long and weigh 1.5 tons, while cows weigh no more than one ton. Walruses have
few enemies and feed on snails, clams, fish and crustaceans. Some, mostly old individuals,
have been noted to feed on seals.
When Svalbard was discovered, walruses were here in tens of thousands. The defenseless
walrus was hunted intensively for several hundred years, mainly for its valuable tusks, and the
population decreased dramatically. In 1952 it was declared a protected species in Svalbard,
and the walrus population is now some 2,000 individuals.
