walrus, canine teeth enlarged as tusks, seal products

Inside Europe | 09.05.2009 | 07:05

EU bans import of seal products

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The EU has called seal hunting methods "barbaric"

The European Parliament has voted to ban imports of seal products. including fur coats and even omega-3 pills, trying to force Canada to end the annual seal hunt that animal rights groups call barbaric.

The EU assembly overwhelmingly endorsed a bill that said commercial seal hunting, notably in Canada, is “inherently inhumane.” The bill still needs the backing of EU governments, but officials called that a formality since national envoys had already endorsed the bill, which will come into force in time for the next hunting season in 2010. One of the major architects of the bill was the British MEP Diana Wallis, who wrote the report into the trade in Seal Products. Rob Turner spoke to her earlier and asked her if the decision was taken as a stance against animal cruelty?

walrus, 海象，兇猛如虎

walrus (ˈwɔːlrəs  ; ˈwɒl-) 

Definitions

noun

 (plural) -ruses or -rus

1. a pinniped mammal, Odobenus rosmarus, of northern seas, having a tough thick skin, upper canine teeth enlarged as tusks, and coarse whiskers and feeding mainly on shellfish: familyOdobenidae

Word Origin

C17: probably from Dutch, from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse hrosshvalr (literally: horse whale) and Old English horschwæl; see horse, whale

seal

seal, carnivorous aquatic mammal with front and hind feet modified as flippers, or fin-feet. The name seal is sometimes applied broadly to any of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, including the walrus, the eared seals (sea lion and fur seal), and the true seals, also called earless seals, hair seals, or phocid seals. More narrowly the term is applied only to true seals. The so-called performing seal of circuses is actually a sea lion.

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• 《動物》アザラシ、オットセイ