Featured Image Credit: Joel Garlich Miller, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
By Emily Persico
Dozer the Pacific walrus was introduced to lady friends Joan and Basilla at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma last week. He is on loan from SeaWorld San Antonio for his male potential. He will stay with Joan and Basilla through springtime breeding season.
Dozer is a hefty Pacific walrus. This 13 foot long and 3,650 pound beast eats 83 pounds of seafood each day. He is 23 years old, and he likes his females young. Typically, a group of females aged 6-10 years old will be steered by older bulls during reproduction. Joan and Basilla are prime reproductive ages and ready to mingle.
Dozer, Joan and Basilla are three of the 14 Pacific walruses in captivity in the US. Hopefully by summer, that number will increase by two. Like other walruses, Joan and Basilla will carry their future calves for a few months before giving birth and taking care of them for at least two years after that.
Lisa Triggs, the senior staff biologist at Point Defiance, tells journalists that Dozer is “not fazed by much, is laid-back, patient and adapts well to new environments.” Point Defiance has made a comfy home for Dozer and his ladies. The three have from December until March to get busy.
Check out the story or read more about Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.