Walrus love

A couple of guys took umbrage at my recent Facebook posts on walruses and were obnoxious about it as it offended them to see a walrus do tricks. I get that, but I am not the target—especially not on my own wall. They fed each other's wrath and flamed me. One guy I blocked, the other at least had the decency to apologize. 

I'm no fan of zoos and marine parks, but this big fellah is very happy to work out for fish—and since they need high level of stimulation or they're easily bored, the workout kills several birds with one stone: it makes people aware of walruses (who are so cool), and the commands are all part of their vet check commands—show the vet your flippers (for sores), show the vet your teeth, etc., it just also happens to be stinkin' cute too.

Walrus habitat is melting, and they've liable to become extinct by 2095, along with the polar bears (but bears seem to be adapting better than walruses) when all the northern ice packs melt. With the exception of Russian and China's poached walruses, most these guys in captivity were orphans—and they need to be bottle-fed for two years! Imagine a very stinky snuggling 4000 pound lap walrus!

My friend's Scottish father used to long-distance swim in the North Sea. He couldn't see very well without his glasses, and was once observed chatting up  a wayward wild walrus, also near-sighted, thinking it was another mustachioed swimmer. Quite the pair. When Wendy's father returned to shore, everyone wanted to know what he thought he was talking to. His chat with the walrus provided years of family entertainment. What I wanna know is did the walrus answer him back?

What I gleaned on my walrus Googling: is that those basic choreographed movements are necessary for vet checkups. They have been incorporated into a skit—which enhances public awareness of the plight of walruses. There are currently 17 walruses in US zoos, and all were orphans—rescue animals bonded with their keepers who bottle-fed them for two years. The "tricks' are command movements needed to care for the animals. Moving them from one place to another, show their flippers for sores, and the health of their teeth, etc.

Attachment happens!

http://imgur.com/mqMgN

Meet Nikolai the Dutch walrus getting a surprise birthday fishcake on his birthday. Note that he's sitting up, and using his flippers like hands.

—From the Daily Mail

Bashful walrus can't believe his eyes. This bashful walrus can't believe his eyes when his keeper brings him his favourite fish dish. Weighing a heavy 1,200 kilogrammes, Nikolai the walrus loves his 'fishcake' prepared by Bert van Santen at a zoo in Harderwijk in the Netherlands.  —From the Daily Mail

Walruses don't breed well in captivity (they don't breed well, period (think of their enormous girth), and it takes about 5 years to raise one calf). They're threatened in the north due to global warming. Walruses are a keystone species, and we know so little about them. It's thought that they'll become extinct by 2095, due to loss of sea ice. ANY positive human interaction at this point is a good thing.

These walrus folk have been a captive audience in our zoos for 30+ years. They think they are people too. The behavior modification process began as a way to handle them in captivity, like when the vet comes to visit, and the patient weighs 4000+ pounds.

Luckily, the gregarious walruses love to interact with trainers. Despite their enormous girth, they're way smarter than seals. They may be blubbery boys, but they can understand an amazing range of hand and vocal commands. They're just not as cute as those dolphins putting on a show for us at zoos, aquariums and at Hawaiian hotels.

Apparently walruses are serious hams and love to play. They don't let a little thing like their enormous girth get int the way. Most walruses are amiable and easily trained. (Will work for fish!) But males called Toothwalkers by the Inuit, can become aggressive, so it's better to have a strong relationship with them, and have them on your side, than not. 

Meet E.T, the orphan walrus. (video of ET) 

"When he first arrived in Tacoma on 17 August 1982, ET was an orphan, rescued by oil workers after they watched him wander alone for three days over the arctic tundra in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. These oil workers gave him his name because of his resemblance to the famous movie character. he baby walrus was dehydrated and weighed only 155 pounds when the Alaska Zoo received him and began caring for him. Walruses are unusual zoo residents, with only 17 individuals kept in US collections. Of course, their size probably plays a large role in this, since a full grown walrus weighs almost as much as an adult elephant. For example, ET, now an adult, weighs more than 3400 pounds. An animal this large can be dangerous to work with, so zoo workers trained him to do a number of simple tasks so veterinary staff can safely monitor his health and carry out simple tasks, such as cleaning his teeth. This training was so successful and ET was such an eager student that zoo workers began training him to do other behaviours on command ... behaviours such as producing a variety of sounds. In this video, we watch (and listen to) ET produce his own little concert of amusing sounds: For those of you who worry about ET's social life, he has been joined by two female walruses, Basilla and Joan, in the hope that these animals can be bred in captivity. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is located in Tacoma, USA. They are on facebook and can also be found on twitter @PtDefianceZoo"   Guardian

 "Walters said the biggest challenge is keeping the animals mentally stimulated. “In the wild, they would spend almost their entire waking time looking for food,” he explained. The keepers train the walruses to fetch and wave, which are fun activities, but which also serve a purpose. “The presenting of the foot and open mouth is basically a veterinary exam,” said Walters. “It’s a simple way of looking at the animal to make sure its mouth is okay and the flipper is okay.”  (video)

Pinnipeds, and walruses often seek novel stimuli through play. So these walrus wranglers have developed program of earning fish, which builds on the walruses' social relationships and teaches cooperation. It also offers meaningful enrichment for these intelligent and highly social animals.

"The concept of boredom in non-human mammals in captivity is very relevant to understanding the welfare needs of pinnipeds in captivity. Boredom has been defined as impaired ability to actively focus attention upon, and interact with, the environment ... how impoverished that animal’s life in an aquarium will be with most or all of these all of these stimuli being absent from the captive environment."—Pinnipeds in captivity - the Seal Conservation Society

Walruses rule. Check out this video of a dancing walrus. It'll melt your heart. Workin' it on out. I am the walrus. Too cute to choo!

"Do the benefits to humans from the animal display industry justify the animals’ confinement and stress associated with the unnatural environment? Although captive harbour seals and California sea lions may live longer than individuals in the wild and can breed (unlike dolphins and whales that often die prematurely in captivity and do not breed easily), the question remains for all marine mammals whether captivity is justified for entertainment, educational or conservation purposes.A study by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA)(Falk et al. 2007) found that zoos and aquariums have a long-term positive impact on visitors’ attitudes towards animals. "—Pinnipeds in captivity - the Seal Conservation Society

"One of three lineages in the suborder Pinnipedia, the walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. This species is subdivided into three subspecies: [3] the Atlantic walrus (O. r. rosmarus) which lives in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific walrus (O. r. divergens) which lives in the Pacific Ocean, and O. r. laptevi, which lives in the Laptev Sea of the Arctic Ocean. Old Norse word for 'horse'.[7] For example, the Old Norse word hrossvalr means 'horse-whale' and is thought to have been passed in an inverted form to both Dutch and the dialects of northern Germany as walros and Walross. The Norwegian manuscript Konungsskuggsja, thought to date from around 1240 AD refers to the walrus as "rosmhvalr" in Iceland and "rostungr" in Greenland (walruses were by now extinct in Iceland and Norway, while the word evolved on in Greenland). Several place names in Iceland, Greenland and Norway may originate from walrus sites; Hvalfjord, Hvallatrar and Hvalsnes to name some, all being typical walrus breeding grounds." —Wiki

Pinnipeds in captivity - the Seal Conservation Society Arctic Sea Ice Minimum in 2013 is Sixth Lowest on Record

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