“I am firm that this was the right call. We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence,” the head of Norway’s fisheries directorate, Frank Bakke-Jensen, said in an announcement.
The younger feminine walrus — nicknamed after the Norse goddess of magnificence and love — has been making a splash in the Norwegian capital since mid-July, apparently lapping up the consideration in what some media stories described as her “hot girl summer.” Verdens Gang, a Norwegian tabloid, arrange a 24-hour live digicam to movie her exploits.
The choice to euthanize Freya induced a direct backlash on social media, with many individuals denouncing the choice as a nationwide disgrace. Some raised questions on why authorities didn’t try to transfer the walrus to a safer space.
Bakke-Jensen mentioned shifting the marine mammal was totally thought-about, with the assist of specialists at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. Authorities concluded that the complexity of the operation meant that “this was not a viable option,” he mentioned.
He added that there have been “several animal welfare concerns associated with a possible relocation.” He didn’t element these issues.
Freya had additionally been sighted alongside the coasts of a number of European international locations in current months, together with Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands. (The younger walrus as soon as hitched a lift on a Dutch submarine. Appropriately, it belonged to the Walrus class of vessels.)
Walruses usually stay in the ice-covered waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and Alaska. There are approximately 25,000 Atlantic walruses and 200,000 Pacific walruses in the wild. They sometimes relaxation on sea ice between feeding bouts.
The marine mammals are protected in the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit final yr ruled that the Trump administration acted improperly in its choice to deny itemizing the Pacific walrus as threatened or endangered in 2017.
As the local weather warms, wildlife advocates fear melting sea ice is inflicting walruses to relaxation extra typically on land — and driving them farther from their conventional fishing habitats.
Walruses are additionally being uncovered to extra transport, tourism, business and noise, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The animals are simply spooked and might stampede in an try to attain the security of the water.
In one current video from Oslo, a trio on a Jet Ski pulled up inside toes of a ship the place Freya was napping, whereas a number of onlookers watched from the jetty. Officials on Sunday printed a photograph of scores of individuals crowded on a pier inside toes of the animal, their faces blurred for privateness.
“Through on-site observations the past week it was made clear that the public has disregarded the current recommendation to keep a clear distance to the walrus,” Bakke-Jensen mentioned. “The possibility for potential harm to people was high and animal welfare was not being maintained,” he added.
Rune Aae, a researcher at the University of South-Eastern Norway, who had been monitoring the walrus by way of the Facebook group “Freya the walrus — where is she now?,” criticized Norway’s choice to euthanize Freya as “hasty” and “completely unnecessary.”
School holidays are virtually over for the summer time, and the curious onlookers who’ve gathered to observe the walrus in the waters of Norway’s capital will quickly disperse, Aae wrote Sunday.