[Animal News]The earth is not only for human beings, but animals also have the right to live. Freya, a walrus in Norway, was only basking in the sun in the bay south of the Norwegian capital Oslo for a month and never attacked humans. A few days ago, the Norwegian government department killed it on the grounds of threatening public safety. Animal protection group NOAH (National Office of Animal Health) criticized the authorities for killing walruses, saying other measures should be tried. The Norwegian Fisheries Agency said the decision to kill Freya was caused by many people ignoring warnings by the authorities to keep their distance from the walrus, even swimming together and throwing objects at Freya, which was assessed as a safety risk.
According to foreign media reports, Freya had visited the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden before, and this summer he chose to go to Norway for vacation, but he did not expect to die. He became famous online when he was first seen on July 17 in a port on the Oslo Fjord, climbing aboard to bask in the sun. The Norse renamed him Freya, the Norse mythology god of love and battle.
However, the appearance of Freya attracted a lot of people curiously to watch the check-in. At that time, the Norwegian Fisheries Bureau had warned citizens not to approach Freya, and even stated that if the situation continued, they would consider destroying Freya humanely. However, many people still went close to Freya, and some people left. They swam together recently, and someone even threw objects at him.
However, the rude behavior of humans did not affect Freya. He still basked in the sun as usual and never attacked humans, but he never thought that even if he did nothing wrong, he would be sentenced to death.
The Norwegian Fisheries Agency killed Freya the day before yesterday (August 14), citing public safety. The decision has drawn a lot of criticism, with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre recently expressing support for the Fisheries Agency’s approach, saying that as a maritime nation, unpopular decisions are sometimes made. The Fisheries Department said that in addition to human safety reasons, the animal welfare of the walrus might not be guaranteed by any feasible means.
Siri Martinsen, head of NOAH, said authorities did not justify killing the walrus and that other measures should be tried, such as fines for those who approached the walrus. Walruses are protected wild animals and are currently listed as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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