Norway Kills Freya, a 1,300-Pound Walrus Who Delighted Onlookers

The Norwegian authorities on Sunday killed a 1,300-pound walrus named Freya who had spent the previous weeks off the coast of Oslo climbing onto boats and lounging on piers, saying that transferring her was “too high risk.”

“In the end, we couldn’t see any other options,” mentioned Olav Lekver, a spokesman for the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries. “She was in an area that wasn’t natural for her.”

Mr. Lekver mentioned walruses wanted plenty of relaxation and folks had been bothering Freya by swimming along with her and taking images of her. The Oslo Fjord is busy in summer season, with swimmers, boaters and different water recreationists. Walruses are social animals and barely enterprise someplace alone, which can have been why Freya had frolicked in a extremely populated space.

The directorate had repeatedly warned individuals to avoid the animal, however they largely didn’t pay attention, Mr. Lekver mentioned. The authorities warned final week that Freya confronted the prospect of being killed if they may not persuade onlookers to remain away.

Freya turned a risk to human security, Mr. Lekver mentioned, including, “She chased people on paddle boards and kayaks.”

He didn't specify how Freya was killed, however mentioned it was “according to regulations.”

Freya was noticed off the coasts of Britain and varied European nations, together with the Netherlands and Denmark, for no less than two years.

There are roughly 225,000 walruses within the wild, based on the World Broad Fund for Nature. They dwell in ice-covered waters in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and Alaska.

Of their common habitat, walruses haul themselves onto sheets of ice. Within the case of Freya, she was hauling herself onto piers and boats. Some ice sheets are melting due to local weather change, inflicting walruses to lose a few of their habitat.

“Many other options should’ve been tried before killing her,” mentioned Rune Aae, a biologist on the College of South-Jap Norway who had been monitoring Freya’s motion on a Google map to assist individuals know when to avoid her. In a Fb publish on Sunday, he known as the choice to kill her “too hasty.”

“Freya had sooner or later gotten out of the Oslofjord, which all previous experience has shown, so euthanasia was, in my view, completely unnecessary,” he wrote.