Meet the York RSPCA inspector – who’s now on Walrus Watch!

One of North Yorkshire’s RSPCA inspectors is the man keeping a close eye on the arctic walrus spotted at the bottom of a Welsh cliff.

Geoff Edmond works in York and Scarborough keeping animals safe but he is also the RSPCA national wildlife coordinator too.

That role means he is in constant contact with colleagues in Wales concerned about the welfare of this arctic visitor.

The mammal was seen near Broad Haven south beach, near Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire, on Friday before it managed to get back into the sea.

It is thought the animal may have been the same one that was seen off the County Kerry coast – one theory is it fell asleep on a piece of ice which floated all the way to our shores.

Geoff Edmond told YorkMix Radio: “While we’ve been rescuing animals and responding to welfare calls for almost 200 years, I believe this is one of only two walrus calls we have ever had. The other was back in the 1980s”

The mammal seems fine but may be a bit underweight, however that’s not surprising given it will have been swimming for a long time.

Inspector Edmond added. “We don’t know if it’s male or female yet but it’s quite young. We will monitor it to make sure it’s OK.

“We ask the public not to get close.”

He also says he’s not sure why it’s so far from the arctic but it will be able to feed. Walrus enjoy shellfish so it has quite expensive tastes!

The lobster and crabs on the Welsh coast will have to watch out…