Norwegian wildlife officials made a hard decision to euthanize the walrus named "Freya" after onlookers ignored safety warnings.
RELATED: This new walrus friendship could help save the species
Norway's popular attraction, Freya the walrus, was euthanized for safety reasons early Sunday, authorities in Norway said. The decision comes after the country's Directorate of Fisheries warned Freya could be put down on Thursday because people were getting too close to the animal and throwing objects at it.
“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,” it said. “Therefore, the Directorate has concluded, the possibility for potential harm to people was high and animal welfare was not being maintained.”
The 1,300-pound female walrus became an icon – capturing hearts (and making some mariner enemies) for sunbathing and chowing down on nearby boats, at times sinking them.
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#Freya #Walrus #Norway
Saddest thing I seen in a while. I hate people
LOVE GOD and Love your neighbor. When we Love GOD we are able to love the unlovely. 🙏🙌🙌💞
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND!
Poor Freya …… The saddest thing I’ve seen all day …… She was just protecting her home.
I wonder why officials couldn’t tag and relocate the walrus.
@Bruce W. Bc of all the fragile people that cried about her being a “danger” to their fragile selves.😏
I think they could have relocated Freja instead of Euthanizing her. That is sad. But I am appalled at how people do not heed warnings. 😢😭
Yep so sad my dear. God knows best. Hope you’re having a good day today. ? Greetings from Texas
That’s totally unacceprable and could’ve been avoided! It’s clearly NOT the Walrus’s fault! That’s insane! They clearly murdered her! People need to be informed about their ignorance and not being complaint to the rules they pay NO consequences for their actions but blame it to the poor animal by killing her! ABSURD!!!
Agreed 100%
@Mercy The first thing that should have been done is for people to keep their hands and food away from wild animals……stay their distance, people have been becoming more ignorant by the year.
@Bruce W. I’ve wondered the same. I imagine her nature would have been to return to where she thrived.
@Mushroom Hatters Blog so either hold her captive to make a buck or allow idiots trying to get selfies to put themselves in danger and then that government get blamed when someone gets hurt? Smart 🙄
I TELL YOU, PEOPLE CAN BE SO CRUEL
There was no sanctuary anywhere in the world who would take her? The world is evil and disgusting.
💯
They live in the sea, was there an intellectual anywhere to ve seen? People need to mind they own damn business and leave wild animals alone…..the bountiful ignorance amazes me🤬🤬🤬
Rubbish: the real reason was damage to watercraft, not “public safety.”
As it should be.
So if people break the rules the animal gets put down?? 🤔 Where’s the logic?
The logic is money, entertainment, tourism. All about the humans and what they want! I’m so disgusted with the human race!
It’s like they called the US and asked for advice for how to handle a minor inconvenience.
They put her down because of damage to their boats, not concerns for the public. Freya was like a toddler that needed supervision. Bakke-Jensen should’ve realized that and acted accordingly. They could’ve worked with poles, in pushing her away from boats, as well as netting her, in an effort for relocation. Building a nearby platform with food would’ve been another idea. It was uncharted territory for sure, but Freya, and others like her, are worth it. Surely the public would’ve come together, volunteering in efforts to save her life. Jensen’s actions were hasty and shortsighted. Hopefully kinder, more thoughtful solutions will be pursued in the future. Rest in peace dear Freya.
How the hell do you know what went on in Norway.
@Yank ee some of us follow world news… get now…*making shooing motions* go back under your rock…
Freya wasn’t a danger, I could probably brush her teeth and be okay. She was slow gentle and goofy. She Loved and trusted humans. She had a big heart.
Probably about potential damage to boats and property. Insurance claims. Money, you know.
Freya was a wild animal, a big one too. It wouldn’t take much for her to injure or kill someone. It’s attitudes like this that get animals (or people) killed for no reason.
@william hutton Before you go throwing around malicious comments like that, know I am not defending the euthanasia of the animal. I never said it needed to die. I am a trained wildlife scientist. The animals that CAN kill a human don’t always require much provocation to become aggressive. I’m sure you’ve seen the recent videos of people getting gored by the bison in Yellowstone. Naive attitudes like the one I originally responded to are what lead to incidents like this.
@Andrew Ferguson I misread your comment and overreacted. I understand your position better when not viewing it through an emotional and reactive lens. I deeply and sincerely apologize for my comment without caveat. You did not deserve my reaction and, though I do not merit your forgiveness, I humbly beg it.
The norwegian people should recall their leaders that put her down like that.
Thanks again human race. Couldn’t just let this beautiful creation be!😔
Why don’t you have serious laws with repercussions like mandatory service hours at non profit animal shelters, if people tease, torment or purposely get too close or touch the animals. The anti jerks to animals law. Animals are 100% innocent and people must protect them or this happens. Why couldn’t she be sedated and relocated? Part of it could be paid by an idiot fund set up to collect fees from people like that man we saw. She didn’t do anything wrong.
Because it’s never about animals getting close to humans or nature getting “too comfortable around people”, it’s about the government appeasing rich property owners. Look at 90% of cases like these and it should occur to you that the root cause of killing these animals, that everyone and the animals seems to be okay with existing around one another, has something to do with it getting *too close* to someone’s beach house, or their land, or in this case their boats.
It’s been said that Freya was raised by a human 😶 Very sad.
Dude actually said one of the reasons they killed her was because of concern for her health. Facepalm 9000
Pure evil.
Politicians really think the public are dumb it keeps being proven by the incredibly dumb things they continue to say
This is literally the answer to everything that we don’t want to have around getting kind of sick
Poor baby!.. who are they to decide if she lives or dies😡😡🤷
They put down a beautiful animal who DESERVED to live like the rest of us!
You have got to be kidding me! They put this animal down because they encroached on her habitat and she had the nerve to damage the boats. How dare she!
Y’all this is the most sickening thing I’ve heard today.
You don’t spend much time on the internet
Such a mean spirited & heartless act.
This so sad and heartbreaking! They could’ve sent her to a zoo or an aquarium and avoided Freya from being euthanized! Totally cruel and heartless!
I imagine she would have come back to where she thrived for so long. It seems locals appreciated her but once she became a story shared so broadly, the idiots came out en mass. They ignored warnings that were for their own safety as well as her’s. She was a wild animal not a side show for idiots to take selfies and videos around.
Putting her in captivity is just as cruel. They should have just relocated her.
@Stephanie Cornwell and thats a reason to kill her?
@Gotta Love Gabe , and here is why no decision could possibly be the correct one.
@Gotta Love Gabe I’m sure she’d much rather have been in a zoo if it meant she lived.