Shocking moment walrus 'deliberately' punctures speedboat using its tusks
Topics: Animals, World News
Jess Hardiman
Featured Image Credit: Twitter/@Namsan105
Topics: Animals, World News
Footage captures the shocking moment a walrus ‘deliberately’ punctured a speedboat using its tusks, and it’s frankly hilarious and terrifying in equal measure.
Walruses don’t usually pose a threat to humans, but have been known to attack if provoked.
Just last year, Norway was forced to euthanize a 1,300lb walrus called Freya after officials deemed her a risk to the public when she drew crowds in to the Oslo Fjord – even clambering onto small boats to sunbathe.
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"Through on-site observations the past week it was made clear that the public has disregarded the current recommendation to keep a clear distance to the walrus," Norway's Directorate of Fisheries said in a statement at the time.
"Therefore, the Directorate has concluded, the possibility for potential harm to people was high and animal welfare was not being maintained."
In new footage, another walrus can be seen causing havoc in Russia – though thankfully this time it's only enemy was a speedboat hanging from a vessel.
A clip was posted on Twitter, with the caption – automatically translated from Russian – saying: “We have a new idol after the shark, it's a walrus.
“A walrus drove away Russian tourists and made a hole in their boat near Franz Josef Land.”
Franz Josef Land is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, inhabited only by military personnel.
The video was later reposted to Reddit, where it racked up more than 11,000 upvotes in just one day.
Many users were convinced that the animal punctured a hole in the boat on purpose, with one writing: “That was the most deliberate thing I've ever seen a walrus do.”
Someone else commented: “His form and accuracy says he's definitely done it before too.”
According to National Geographic, walruses are ‘extremely sociable’, but can become aggressive during mating season – not good news, considering they have massive tusks.
“Walruses use their iconic long tusks for a variety of reasons, each of which makes their lives in the Arctic a bit easier,” the National Geographic site explains.
“They use them to haul their enormous bodies out of frigid waters, thus their ‘tooth-walking’ label, and to break breathing holes into ice from below.
“Their tusks, which are found on both males and females, can extend to about three feet, and are, in fact, large canine teeth, which grow throughout their lives.
“Male walruses, or bulls, also employ their tusks aggressively to maintain territory and, during mating season, to protect their harems of females, or cows.”