To defend her cubs, mother walrus sinks Russian Navy boat

Walrus are not naturally aggressive, but they use their massive tusks to defend themselves when threatened.

In an incident that some may see as an example of motherly love, a large female walrus living in the Arctic Ocean reportedly sunk a naval boat to protect her cubs.

A walrus with its cub (representational image). (Pixabay)

The boat, belonging to Russian Navy, was a small rubber landing craft carrying a team of scientists, reports Mirror. The animal took a disliking to the boat as it crossed a path between the walrus and its cubs. Irritated – and presuming it as a threat to its cubs - the animal attacked and eventually sank the vessel.

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During this unusual human-animal interaction, the scientists were on an expedition to Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, reports CBS News.

“During the landing at Cape Heller, a group of researchers had to flee from a female walrus, which, protecting its cubs, attacked an expedition boat,” the Russian Military’s Northern Fleet said in a press release, cited CBS News.

Walrus are not naturally aggressive, but they use their massive tusks to defend themselves when threatened, reports National Geographic. The animals living near the Arctic Circle can grow twice the size of a human – almost up to 11 feet.