Odobenus rosmarus divergens

(Illiger, 1815)

Vernacular names
English : Pacific walrus
French : Morse du Pacifique

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 larger, clearer and with broader snout.

Range and habitat
This subspecies occurs in northern Pacific Ocean, from the Bering, Beaufort and Laptev seas to Japan and south Alaska. Species also found in Atlantic Ocean. Lives in open pack of ice in winter, sometimes on isolated shores in summer.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : DATA DEFICIENT
CITES : Appendix III
Status : The species has been overhunted until the late 1990s, resulting in severe declines in most populations. Slow recoveries have been noted recently but climate change is posing a serious and immediate threat.
Ex-Situ Programs : ESB in Europe

Observation

 

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