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Freya, a 1,300-pound walrus who spent the summer lounging on boats and basking on piers in Oslo’s fjord, to the delight of many locals, has been killed by Norwegian authorities who say she was a threat to public safety.
The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries said the decision to euthanize the walruses in the early hours of Sunday local time came after the public ignored repeated warnings to stay away from Freya.
“I am adamant that it was the right decision. We have great respect for animal welfare, but the lives and safety of people must come first,” said the head of Norway’s fisheries directorate, Frank Bakke-Jensen, in a statement.
The young female walrus – nicknamed the Norse goddess of beauty and love – has been making waves in the Norwegian capital since mid-July, apparently attracting attention in what some media have described as her “hot girl summer”. Verdens Gang, a Norwegian tabloid, set up a 24-hour live camera to capture her exploits.
The decision to euthanize Freya sparked an immediate backlash on social media, with many denouncing the decision as a national shame. Some have raised questions about why authorities did not try to move the walrus to a safer area.
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Backe-Jensen said the marine mammal’s relocation was carefully considered with the help of experts from the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. Authorities concluded that the complexity of the operation meant “it was not a viable option,” he said.
He added that there were “several animal welfare concerns related to a possible relocation.” He did not elaborate on those concerns.
Freya has also been spotted off the coast of several European countries in recent months, including Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands. (The young walrus once boarded an elevator on a Dutch submarine. Accordingly, it belonged to a Walrus-class vessel.)
Walruses usually live in the ice-covered waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and Alaska. There are approximately 25,000 Atlantic walruses and 200,000 Pacific walruses in the wild. They usually rest on sea ice between feeding periods.
Marine mammals are protected in the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled last year that the Trump administration acted improperly in its decision to deny listing the Pacific walrus as threatened or endangered in 2017.
As the climate warms, wildlife advocates worry that melting sea ice is forcing walruses to rest more often on land and moving them away from their traditional fishing habitats.
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Walruses are also exposed to more shipping, tourism, industry and noise, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Animals are easily spooked and may scramble in an attempt to reach the safety of water.
In a recent video from Oslo, a trio of jet skis stopped steps away from a boat where Freya was napping as several onlookers watched from the pier. Officials released a photo Sunday of dozens of people crowded onto a pier within feet of the animal, their faces blurred for privacy.
“Through field observations over the past week, it has become clear that the public has ignored the current advice to keep a clear distance from walruses,” Backe-Jensen said. “The possibility of potential harm to humans was high and animal welfare was not maintained,” he added.
Rune Aae, a researcher at the University of Southeastern Norway who tracked the walrus through the Facebook group Freya the Walrus — Where is she now?, criticized Norway’s decision to euthanize Freya as “hasty” and “totally unnecessary.”
The school holidays are almost over for the summer and curious onlookers who have gathered to watch the walruses in the waters of the Norwegian capital will soon disperse, Aae wrote on Sunday.
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