Gjertz, I., Wiig, Ø. & Øritsland, N.A. 1998: Backcalculation of original population size for walruses Odobenus rosmarus in Franz Josef Land. -Wildl. Biol. 4: 223-230.
Walrus Odobenus rosmarus hunting was conducted for hundreds of years in large parts of the European Arctic. Catch statistics are incomplete, or non-existent, and it is therefore difficult to determine the original population numbers for the different geographical areas. One exception is the Russian archipelago Franz Josef Land. These islands were discovered in 1873, and large-scale walrus hunting started there in the late 1890s and continued for four decades. It is therefore possible to estimate the minimum original population size based on catch statistics from Franz Josef Land for the last century. Using a simple population model backcalculation of the Franz Josef Land population to 1897 produces an estimate of 6,000-12,500 walruses.
Key words: catch history, Europe, Odobenus rosmarus, population size, Russia, walrus
Ian Gjertz & Nils Are Øritsland, Norwegian Polar Institute, P.O.B. 5072 Majorstuen, N-0301 Oslo, Norway - e-mail: i.l.b.gjertz@toyen.uio.no
Øystein Wiig, Zoological Museum, University of Oslo, Sarsgate 1, N-0562 Oslo, Norway
Received 3 September 1997, accepted 23 March 1998
Associate Editor: Nigel G. Yoccoz