The Norwegian government performed a euthanasia on its celebrity walrus Freya on Sunday morning after warning the public to stay away from her.
“The decision to euthanize the walrus was made on the basis of a global assessment of the ongoing threat to human security,” Frank Bakke-Jensen, director general of the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate, said in a press release.
Freya became a social media sensation this summer, she told CNN Rune Aae, who teaches biology at the University of South East Norway and manages a Google map of Freya sightings.
The young female walrus was spending time at the Oslo Fjord, a cove on the southeastern coast of the country, and was apparently not afraid of humans, unlike most walruses. Several popular videos show the walrus climbing into small boats to sunbathe.
Last week, management 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 the walrus,” Nadia Jdaini, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Fisheries Board, told CNN by email.
Previously, the management told the CNN who was considering various solutions, including relocating Freya out of the fjord. But “the extensive complexity of such an operation led us to conclude that this was not a viable option,” Bakke-Jensen said in the press release.
“We sympathize with the fact that the decision may cause public reactions, but I am firm that this was the right decision,” continued Bakke-Jensen.
“We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence.” The direction included a photo of a large crowd seemingly within feet of Freya on its release.
Female walruses weigh between 600 and 900 kilograms, or about 1,300 to 2,000 pounds, Jdaini said. There are more than 25,000 Atlantic walruses making their homes in the frigid waters around Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Marine mammals migrate along the coast to feed on molluscs and other invertebrates in shallow waters.
Typically, marine mammals are wary of humans and stay on the outer edges of the coast of Norway.. Aae, the biology professor who tracks Freya sightings, said the last time a walrus was documented this far south in the North Sea was in 2013. “It’s not common,” he said — prompting crowds of Norwegians to flock. gather to see Freya.
“Usually walruses will appear on some islands, but they will leave very soon because they are afraid of people,” Aae said.
But Freya “is not afraid of people,” he said. “Actually, I think she likes people. So that’s why she doesn’t leave.
In a Facebook post after Freya’s death was announced, Aae condemned the euthanasia board’s decision as “too rash”. He said the fishing team was monitoring her with a patrol boat to ensure the safety of the public and that she would likely leave the fjord soon, as she had done on her previous spring visits.
Freya would have “sooner or later left the Oslofjord, which all previous experience has shown, so euthanasia was, in my opinion, completely unnecessary,” he wrote.
“How embarrassing!”
Source: CNN Brasil
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