Ootah

male walrus (O. rosmarus)

wild caught in 1937

deceased on August 15th, 1938

Ancestors and Descendants

No known related animals.

Transfer History

  1. capture 1937 in Smith Sound

  2. transfer 1937 to Effie M. Morrissey

  3. transfer 1937-Sep-17 to Brookfield Zoo

  4. death 1938-Aug-15 at Brookfield Zoo

Physical Data

The dates listed here generally represent the time at which the measurements were published, not necessarily the date on which they were taken.

Weight

  • 1937-Sep-16: 150 lbs

  • 1937-Dec-30: 150 - 170 lbs

Image Gallery

No images available at this time.

Identifiers

Local

Regional

  • #2 (Association of Zoos and Aquariums)

Notes and Information

The images found here have all been gathered either from this facility's official resources or news articles.

Captain Bartlett departed aboard the Effie M. Morrissey schooner at the end of June, 1937 with a request to retrieve, among other zoological and botanical specimens, two walrus pups for the Brookfield Zoo. I am not certain precisely when the pups were captured, except that it was during or after July.

The two walrus pups were named Ootah and Pussey (or Pussy, in some sources); Ootah (presumably, but not confirmed, the young bull) was named after a member of Captain Robert Peary's expedition to the North Pole, who was claimed to be the only survivor of the expedition by the time of the pups import in 1937 (although Matthew Henson, who was also a member of the party and said to have been the first to reach the Pole, passed away 18 years later in 1955). I have no information regarding which name belonged to which walrus.

These pups were said to be 8 months old in December of 1937.

References

  • 2018-Jan-08. Lisa Oland. AZA Regional Studbook.

  • Baker, J. (2004). 2004 North American regional walrus studbook (Odobenus rosmarus), p. 3.

  • Bartlett returns with 2 passengers. (1937, September 17). The New York Times. Retrieved from The New York Times.

  • Captain Bartlett's Arctic Cruise, 1937. (1937). Polar Record, 2(14), 130. doi:10.1017/S0032247400035968

  • Schonemann, A. (1937, October 14). Your friends at the zoo. The Suburban Magnet, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperArchive.com.

  • Schonemann, A. (1937, December 30). Your friends at the zoo. The Suburban Magnet, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperArchive.com.

  • Smithsonian Institution. (1937). Explorations and field-work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1937, pp. 51, 55-56, 62-63. Washington, D.C.; Smithsonian Institute. Retrieved from Archive.org.

  • Only baby walruses ever seen in zoo. (1937, September 16). International Chicago. Retrieved from The Circus "NO SPIN ZONE"