November 24 - Walrus Day in Russia

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Walrus Day, celebrated annually on November 24, was established in 2008 at the initiative of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Marine Mammal Council. The date was not chosen by chance, because it was in the last days of autumn that the largest pinnipeds living in the northern hemisphere of the Earth leave the Arctic coast of the Chukchi Sea and go for wintering in the Bering Strait. During this period, they become especially vulnerable and in need of protection. Therefore, the proclaimed holiday is designed to draw public attention to the problems leading to a reduction in the number of marine mammals - Pacific walruses.

Disturbance of ecological balance is the main problem, the consequences of which threaten walruses. Climate change towards warming has led to the fact that the area of the Earth’s ice cover has been rapidly decreasing in recent years. As a result of this, marine mammals are forced to move from ice to land, forming new coastal rookeries. Mass accumulation of walruses in such rookeries leads to the death of a large number of young animals.

Human invasion of walrus territory is another issue with unpredictable consequences for animals. The development of rich reserves of hydrocarbons by humans on the shelf of the Arctic Ocean and the active development of navigation, leads to the mass death of walruses, causing zoodefenders to sound the alarm. After all, today the Atlantic and Laptev subspecies of the Pacific walrus are listed in the Red Book of Russia.

Today Walrus Day is celebrated in all Arctic regions of Russia. Their residents hope that over time, the environmental date will gain popularity around the world, because its organizer is the World Wide Fund for Nature, whose representatives urge people to remember more often our common responsibility for the conservation of the wildlife of the ocean and to treat its inhabitants more carefully.

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