An orphaned baby walrus who was found emaciated, dehydrated, and alone on a beach in far northern Alaska last month has been recovering under intensive care thanks to the efforts of the Alaska SeaLife Center’s Wildlife Response Program. Assisted by additional staff members from walrus care organizations around the United States, the staff at Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) have been providing round-the-clock intensive care for the Pacific walrus calf, who has shown encouraging signs of improvement.
Baby walruses are usually cared for by their mothers for the first year or first two years of their lives. Since this walrus was found alone and rescued by humans at only a few weeks old, she has been acclimated to human care and thus is not a candidate for rerelease in the wild once she recovers. Instead, she will likely become an ambassador animal at a wildlife facility, where she will raise awareness about Pacific walruses, their ecosystems, and the challenges both face, as well as the need to protect all animals that live in the Arctic.
All About The Baby Walrus
Last month, the ASLC received permission from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to rescue a female Pacific walrus calf that was found alone on a beach in Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in Alaska and the United States, which borders the Arctic Ocean. According to the ASLC’s report, the calf weighed around 165 pounds and was likely only a few weeks old at the time.
When researchers found the calf, she was not in a healthy state. The baby walrus was emaciated, dehydrated, and covered with minor scrapes and lacerations. Furthermore, as walruses are highly social animals and walrus calves stay close to their mothers for one to two years after they’re born, it was unusual to find the animal alone. The ASLC suggested that the calf may have been left behind after a walrus herd passed through the area near Utqiagvik.
Rescue and Recovery
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As part of the ASLC’s Wildlife Response Program, staff members brought the baby walrus from Utqiagvik to their center in Seward, Alaska, which sits on the Kenai Peninsula on the southern coast of the state. The baby walrus was transferred so far because the ASLC is the only organization that has the authorization to rehabilitate live stranded marine mammals in Alaska. This calf is only the 11th Pacific walrus the ASLC has admitted to its Wildlife Response Program since the program’s founding in 1998.
As caring for an orphaned baby walrus is an incredibly demanding task, other walrus care institutions around the country have sent specially trained staff members up to Seward to help with the baby walrus’s care and are also providing support from afar. Among the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited organizations that are assisting in the calf’s recovery are SeaWorld, the Indianapolis Zoo, and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Washington state, which is one of only four zoos in the U.S. that has walruses.
Since walrus calves seek physical comfort through contact with their mothers, the staff of ASLC and the additional support from the other institutions provide round-the-clock care as surrogate parents to the baby walrus. Thanks to the intensive care the staff members have provided, the baby walrus has started to recover from the dire condition she was found in; within a couple weeks after her arrival at the center, she was nursing from a bottle, gained a little weight, and had improved bloodwork results. While her health is improving, the calf remains in a critical state.
From Abandonment To Ambassador
As the walrus was rescued at such a young age and has become acclimated to human care, she will not be released back into the wild even when she fully recovers to a healthy state. Instead, the calf will likely continue living at a wildlife facility and serving a different role as an ambassador animal. As an ambassador animal, the calf will provide visitors the opportunity to learn about Pacific walruses, the ecosystems they live in, and the challenges both face, including climate change.
According to Dr. Chris Dold, the chief zoological officer at SeaWorld, walruses make great ambassador animals for the land and marine ecosystems of the Arctic. As with other ambassador animals, he states that walruses can inspire people to protect these animals and their habitats and become “better stewards of the planet we all share.”
Final Thoughts
Once found all alone in a malnourished, dehydrated, and injured state on a beach, this baby walrus has gotten a new lease on life thanks to rescue efforts coordinated by the Alaska Sea Life Center’s Wildlife Response Program. By providing round-the-clock intensive care and maternal surrogacy for the orphaned calf, walrus care experts from organizations around the country have been helping the walrus recover, and all signs point to her successful rehabilitation.
While this walrus will not be returned to the wild due to spending her formative years with human care, she will likely help educate people about her species and native habitat. Furthermore, the story of her plight, rescue, and recovery should serve as an inspiration for everyone to support wildlife conservation, environmental protection, and species recovery. After all, we all share the same planet that sustains us.
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