Polar Bears: Walrus’ Nightmare
Walruses can't be killed easily, not even by polar bears. But polar bears have found a way to make a meal of walruses.
Weighing at nearly 1000 kilograms, walruses make for an exceptionally delicious treat for a hungry polar bear. Polar bears always hunt individually, and not in packs. Therefore, it becomes difficult for them to take on a walrus all by themselves. The walrus is a daunting beast and cannot be taken down easily. An average male Pacific Walrus weighs around 800-1700 kilograms, while an average female Pacific Walrus weighs around 400-1250 kilograms. They are nearly impossible for a polar bear to kill, but over the years, research has proved otherwise. Chimpanzees, dolphins, elephants, and polar bears are capable of using tools to their benefit in diverse situations.
Charles Francis Hall published the account of an Inuit in 1865, in which the Inuit described how he once saw a polar bear hunt a walrus with a rock. While this claim was dismissed by scientists for a long time as baseless and arising out of mythical tales, recent research shows that the account of the Inuit was indeed accurate. Researchers who looked into the claim saw that brown bears, which are closely related to polar bears, also used tools to gain access to food when in captivity.
The polar bear’s modus operandi for hunting the walrus is quite simple. In a footage recorded by researchers, a polar bear was seen using a huge chunk of ice, which it propelled at the walrus. The attack served its purpose and knocked out the walrus. This enabled the polar bear to dispatch it easily and get itself an easy meal. This is in consonance with the Inuit accounts, which state that the polar bears pick up rocks and huge boulders of ice to throw at unsuspecting walruses to kill them for food.
The reason why polar bears need to use such a strategy is quite evident. A male walrus has a rather thick skull and is incredibly heavy. A walrus weighs nearly twice as much as a polar bear, which makes it difficult to hunt them. Therefore, for an unarmed bear, it becomes rather difficult to take down a walrus all by itself without the use of such tools.
Polar bears are highly aggressive while walruses are semi-aggressive. However, the largest polar bear ever recorded weighed 2200 pounds, which is 800 pounds less than the heaviest walrus ever weighed, i.e. the Atlantic Walrus. When it comes to speed, both the animals win on their own territories. While a polar bear can go as fast as 40 kilometres per hour on ice, it is rather slow in water, averaging at only 9.5 kilometres per hour. On the other hand, walruses are extremely slow on land but can go as fast as 32 kilometres per hour in water.
Another thing that makes it very difficult for a polar bear to kill a walrus is how they travel - in packs. The size of a walrus combined with this makes it an extremely difficult prey. The one thing that benefits the polar bears in situations like these is their intelligence. Polar bears are rather intelligent mammals and opportunistic predators. British explorer George Francis Lyon witnessed a polar bear attack two walruses. As per his account, he saw a polar bear swim cautiously to a large block of ice where two mother walruses lay with their cubs. The bear picked up a huge chunk of ice and dropped it on a mother’s head, as the other lucky pair rolled off into the water. The block of ice immediately killed the walrus while the polar bear preyed on the cub quite easily.
Polar bears have mastered the art of using simple tools and have turned a difficult situation to their advantage.
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