Freya, the 1,300-pound walrus that sinks boats in Norway, has been euthanized

আগস্ট 15, 2022
মন্তব্য নেই
World News


Freya became a social media sensation this summer, Rune Aae, who teaches biology at the University of Southeast Norway and maintains a Google map of Freya sightings, told CNN. The young female walrus had spent time in Oslo Fjord, an inlet on the country’s southeast coast, and apparently wasn’t afraid of humans, unlike most walruses. Several popular videos show walruses climbing onto small boats to sunbathe.

Management last week warned the public to stay away from Freya, saying they had observed visitors swimming with Freya, throwing objects at her and getting dangerously close to her to take pictures. “The public has disregarded the current recommendation to keep a clear distance from walrus,” Nadia Jdaini, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate, told CNN in an email.

Previously, management told CNN it was considering several solutions, including relocating Freya out of the fjord. But “the high complexity of such an operation made us conclude that it was not a viable option,” Bakke-Jensen said in the press release.

“We have sympathy that the decision may provoke reactions from the public, but I am convinced that it was the right choice,” continued Bakke-Jensen. “We have great respect for animal welfare, but human life and safety must come first.” Management included a photo of a large crowd apparently a few feet away from Freya in their post.

Female walruses weigh between 600 and 900 kilograms, or about 1,300 to 2,000 pounds, Jdaini said. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, more than 25,000 Atlantic walruses live in the icy waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia. Marine mammals migrate along the coast to feed on molluscs and other invertebrates in shallow waters.
Freya rests on a boat in Frognerkilen, in the Oslo fjord, Norway, on July 19, 2022.

Usually the sea mammals are wary of humans and stay on the outer edges of the Norwegian coast. Aae, the biology professor following Freya’s sightings, said the last time a walrus was documented this far south in the North Sea was in 2013. “That’s not common at all,” he said, leading to crowds of Norwegians flocking to see Freya.

“Normally, walruses will spawn on certain islands, but they will leave quite quickly, as they are afraid of people,” Aae said.

But Freya “isn’t afraid of people,” he said. “Actually, I think she likes people. That’s why she’s not leaving.”

In a Facebook post after news broke of Freya’s death, Aae condemned management’s decision to euthanize her as “too hasty”. He said fisheries staff were monitoring her with a patrol boat to ensure public safety and she was likely to leave the fjord soon, as she had on previous visits in the spring.

Freya would have “sooner or later left the Oslofjord, which all previous experiences have shown, so euthanasia was, in my opinion, totally unnecessary,” he wrote.

“That’s a shame!”

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