We must continue protecting the walrus, as it is the last remaining species in a family called Odobenidae, which means “those who walk with their teeth.”
By the early 1950s, only a small population of Svalbard’s walruses survived the more than 300 years of ivory hunting. To prevent the walruses from disappearing completely, the Norwegian government banned commercial hunting of them, and, with this protection the walruses proved resilient.
In 2006, researchers were thrilled to count 2,629 walruses in Svalbard, and the latest count in 2018 recorded 5,503.
