The image of Freya the walrus sitting on a boat in Frognerkilen in Oslo, Norway, on July 18. Authorities in Norway said on Sunday that they had made the walrus a very popular attraction. audience at the Oslo Fjord after concluding that it was dangerous to humans.
Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Scanpix via AP
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Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Scanpix via AP
Freya the walrus is seen sitting on a boat in Frognerkilen in Oslo, Norway, on July 18. Authorities in Norway said on Sunday that they had attracted crowds of the walrus. audience in the Oslo Fjord after concluding that it was dangerous to humans.
Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Scanpix via AP
BERLIN – Authorities in Norway have honored a walrus that drew crowds in the Oslo Fjord after concluding it was dangerous to humans.
The 600 kg (1,320 pound) female walrus, affectionately known as Freya, has become a popular attraction in Norway in recent weeks, despite warnings by officials that people Don’t get up close and take pictures with giant marine mammals. Freya likes to ride in small boats, damaging them.
The hippocampus is protected and, most recently, last month, officials said they hoped Freya would die of his own accord and that cadaver status would be a last resort.
Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries said Freya was brought down early Sunday “based on an overall assessment of the continuing threat to human safety.”
“Through observations in situ over the past week, it is clear that the public has ignored the current recommendation to keep a clear distance from the hippocampus,” it said. “As a result, the Directorate concluded, the potential for harm to humans was high and animal welfare was not maintained.”
The head of the board of directors, Frank Bakke-Jensen, said other options – including moving the animal elsewhere – had been considered. But authorities concluded that was not a viable option.
A walrus named Freya is pictured at the waterfront at Frognerstranda in Oslo, Norway, on July 18.
Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Scanpix via AP
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Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Scanpix via AP
A walrus named Freya is pictured at the waterfront at Frognerstranda in Oslo, Norway, on July 18.
Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Scanpix via AP
Bakke-Jensen said: “We sympathize with the fact that this decision may provoke a backlash from the public, but I am sure it is the right call. “We take animal rights very seriously, but people’s lives and safety must come first.”
Atlantic walruses usually live in the Arctic. Their entry into the North and Baltic Seas is unusual but not unheard of. Another walrus, nicknamed Wally, was seen last year on beaches and even a lifeboat dock in Wales and elsewhere.
