The Walrus

The walrus is part of the family of flipered marine mammals, defined by its large bulk and its ever-iconic tusks. Primarily found in the Northern Hemisphere in the Arctic, they have somewhat become a keystone species for the creatures found in the cold northern regions of the world, a status which it holds with other iconic creatures like the Polar Bear.

In 2007, a movie entitled Arctic Tale delved into the harsh realities faced by walruses, looking into the actual life cycle of a walrus and a polar bear. Though the two species, the walrus and polar bear, are not closely related, the two are somewhat unified in the cold realities imposed on them by the sub-temperate environment that is their habitat, thus the movie’s focus on the walrus and polar bear in depicting the truly harsh lives they lead in cold climes.

With walruses known to live as long as twenty to thirty years in the wild, they are considered to be one of the longest living creatures in the world, with different walrus research noting that they start mating by the time they reach fifteen years of age.

At one point in history, they had been heavily hunted for their skin, meat and tusks, but the status has changed with different conservation efforts having an impact in preserving the walrus species from heavy hunting practices.

As with most tusked creatures, male walruses are known to sport long sharp tusks, matched with whiskers which have somewhat made the walrus look one that is quite well known in the world.

With countless stuffed toy or plushie toy adaptations of the walrus, their popularity follows after penguins, when it comes to toy and merchandise items which are based on creatures of sub-zero cold environments.

Walrus Video