The Norwegian authorities announced on Sunday that they had euthanized the walrus Freya, whose presence in the Oslo fjord had become the attraction of the summer to the point of putting the lives of the public and the animal in danger.
“The decision to euthanize the walrus was made based on an overall assessment of the continuing threat to human safety,” Norwegian Fisheries Directorate official Frank Bakke-Jensen said in a statement.
Walruses typically live in even more northern Arctic latitudes, but Freya, whose name refers to a goddess associated with love and beauty in Norse mythology, had bathed in the waters of the Norwegian capital since the 17 July.
Despite the incessant calls to stay away and not to disturb the mammal, the young female of some 600 kilos attracted a lot of attention, presenting a risk to the public and the animal, estimated the direction of the fishing.
“We have carefully considered all possible solutions. We concluded that we could not guarantee the welfare of the animal by any means available,” Bakke-Jensen said.
Considered, the displacement of Freya, who was filmed climbing on boats swaying under her weight to doze there, “was not a viable option” because of its complexity, he added.
In France, a rescue operation had been set up this week to transport a beluga out of the Seine, where it had gotten lost, but the cetacean had not supported it and had to be euthanized.