The potential for mortalities during stampedes appears to be less in the case of on-ice herds, which generally are smaller than herds on land. Natural Mortality Walruses are preyed upon by polar bears, killer whales, and man. The magnitude of natural mortality is unknown but is assumed to be low, given the population's low productivity. Eskimo hunters from St. Lawrence Island have described walruses becoming emaciated after becoming entrapped in heavy ice. It is probable that in some instances those walruses starve to death but no documentation of such events exists.
Rock slides are a hazard to walruses on terrestrial haulouts and occasionally result in mortality.
Serious injury and death can result from intra-specific interactions, mainly involving strikes with tusks and trampling. Skin lacerations and subcutaneous hemorrhages resulting from tusk strikes are common in both sexes and all age-classes. The most serious wounds are observed on males during the breeding season when they wound each other during vigorous fights in the water. Trampling can result in abortion, injury, and death during stampedes at crowded haulouts and has been observed at Wrangel Island in the Chukchi Sea and the Punuk Islands in the Bering Sea.