Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Vernacular names

English : Atlantic walrus
French : Morse de l’Atlantique

Classification

Class : Mammalia
Order : Carnivora
Family : Odobenidae
Notes : 1 subspecies known.

Identification

Body length of 3.5 m, weight up to 1.8 tons. Unmistakable. Wrinkled brownish skin with pinkish-red areas on neck. Broad nose with small whiskers. Elongated tusk-like teeth. This subspecies is smaller with narrower snout.

Range and habitat

This subspecies occurs in northern Atlantic, from Hudson Bay (Canada) to Greenland, east to north Russia. Species also found in Pacific Ocean. Lives in open pack of ice in winter, sometimes on isolated shores in summer.

Conservation

IUCN RED LIST : NEAR THREATENED
Status : The species has been overhunted until the late 1990s, resulting in severe declines in most populations. Slow recoveries have been noted recently.