Freya the sunbathing walrus put down over public safety concerns after 'stress' from unruly crowds
OSLO, NORWAY: A walrus with the nickname Freya who drew crowds while sunbathing in Oslo has been put down over concerns of public safety. The head of Norway’s fisheries directorate, Frank Bakke-Jensen, said, “The decision to euthanize was taken on the basis of a global evaluation of the persistent threat to human security. We carefully examined all the possible solutions. We concluded that we could not guarantee the animal's wellbeing by any means available.”
Officials had earlier stated that they were thinking about euthanasia since their repeated requests for the public to stay away from the young female, who weighed 600 kg, had been unsuccessful. According to Daily Mail, Nadia Jdaini, the directorate's senior communications advisor, said in a statement, "The fact that the walrus has become an attraction escalates the need for further measures. Our biggest fear is that people could get hurt.”
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According to The New York Times, despite repeated appeals, curious onlookers continued to approach her, sometimes with children in tow, to take photographs. "We are talking about partly large crowds of all ages, where all people clearly deviate from the current recommendations to keep their distance. Animal welfare is clearly weakened. The walrus does not get enough rest and the professionals we are in dialogue with considering her to be stressed,” she added.
Many people in Norway have been interacting too much with a walrus named Freya. Officials have warned people to stay away from the 1,300-pound animal, but if that doesn't work, solutions include moving her from the country's coast or killing her. https://t.co/7PBSC18DI7 pic.twitter.com/MvZ4F8h1aT
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 12, 2022
The directorate had also requested people to stay away from the walrus. They were said to have been keeping an eye on the situation with a patrol boat while also discussing other measures with the police and a veterinarian. Jdaini had said, "We are now probing further measures, where euthanasia can be a real alternative.” "The distance recommendations and clarifications about not swimming with the walrus are repeated. We would again — strongly — recommend that the public keep their distance where the walrus has been observed and not bathe with it. It is for one's own safety and with animal welfare in mind,” she added.
Freya decided to spend a portion of the summer in Norway after being spotted in the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden. Freya originally became famous in Norway by boarding pleasure boats in the quaint southern seaside town of Krager. In search of the ideal sunbathing site, Freya delighted observers in July while also causing havoc in northern Europe, overtaking and occasionally sinking vessels. The walrus has been tracked for months around Norway's coast, leaving a trail of destroyed boats in her path, according to NBC News. Kathrine Ryeng, a veterinary medicine scientist at Norway's Institute of Marine Research, said at the time that the enormous mammal seeks out empty boats "to sleep and digest her food because they remind her of Arctic ice floes."
