Igor (born 1982 or 1983 – 11 April 2013) was a male

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...

that lived in the

Dolfinarium Harderwijk Dolfinarium Harderwijk, better known as the Dolfinarium, is a marine mammal park in Harderwijk, the Netherlands. It is the largest marine mammal park in Europe. Visitor numbers were steady from 2005 to 2011, numbering between 700,000 and 800,000, ...

, where he was also subject of scientific research. He had played

international draughts International draughts (also called international checkers or Polish draughts) is a Abstract strategy, strategy board game for two players, one of the variants of draughts. The gameboard comprises 10×10 squares in alternating dark and light co ...

against world champion

Ton Sijbrands Teunis (Ton) Sijbrands (born 15 December 1949, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch international draughts player who became world champion in 1972. The next year, he successfully defended his title in a match against Andris Andreiko. In 1967, 1969, 1970, ...

. Igor also featured in the television show Animal Crackers with Dutch comedian

André van Duin André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variat ...

. Near the end of his life Igor fell ill, lost the will to eat and suffered from his shoulder joint. After his condition further deteriorated the Dolfinarium decided to euthanize him. His remains were sent to the faculty of veterinary medicine of

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

for further investigation.

Subject of research

As well as the other walruses at the Dolfinarium, Igor was the subject of scientific research. Igor participated in research concerning the functioning of walrus whiskers. With his whiskers Igor was able to differentiate between circles and triangles, and showed this by shaking his head in different ways. Igor was able to recognize the shapes until they reached the size of the tip of a pen, which showed that walrus whiskers have a similar touch sensitivity as human fingertips. Another study investigated the effects of drilling for oil and gas on walruses by subjecting Igor to different noises by letting him wear headphones.

References

{{reflist 2013 animal deaths Individual walruses Dolfinarium Harderwijk Individual animals in the Netherlands Animal deaths by euthanasia