By Govini Elvitigala
Freya was a 600 kg female walrus who gained fame wandering Northern European waters. Her journey started in the Arctic and ended tragically in the Oslo Fjord. Freya arrived in the Oslo Fjord in mid-July meeting and was then euthanized in mid-August as she was recognized as a threat to public welfare.
Walruses are known to be dangerous mammals. With their gigantic bodies and sharp tusks, they are powerful predators, capable not only of killing their prey – seals – but even of attacking the polar bears that prey on them. They are known to sink small boats, attack scuba divers and kill people. While these cases are rare, since walruses usually inhabit isolated areas with few humans, it is difficult to believe that they can be gentle with humans consistently. While not physically harming any humans, Freya herself sank boats to the amusement of people watching this scene. Walruses are also known to be unpredictable, so having seen the pictures of crowds flocking to stand mere meters away from this gigantic creature despite warnings, the concerns of the Norwegian authorities are reasonable. Their chosen mode of action, not so much.
Freya needed to be removed from the public, but according to Rd. Bjorn, a senior scientist from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, moving Freya would have caused her physiological stress, potentially leading to her death. Anesthetics were deemed unfeasible with concerns of severe respiratory and circulatory problems, and the difficulty of accessing her blood vessels. Using a net too came at risk to Freya, this time the risk being of her entangling herself, panicking, and drowning. Using an open-top cage was seen as the “gentlest” option but then the associated use of resources and money made this too impracticable for the government. So, for fear of accidentally killing her while moving her, she was killed outright. Choosing a fast death over potential suffering and dying can be considered reasonable but why the authorities did not pay more attention to fixing the human behaviour that caused this problem in the first place is a mystery. True, just one human disobeying orders and putting themselves in harm’s way would have caused as much outrage as Freya’s death did. But why the animal had to pay for humanity’s lack of respect for the power of mother nature is only reflective of our overall relationship with nature.
Walruses are vulnerable species according to the IUCN red list but the death of one walrus, no matter how tragic, does not significantly affect the total population. The March 2022 approval of oil exploration in the Artic is much more concerning. Norway is the second largest petroleum producer in Europe after Russia and Western nations are eager for non-Russian fuel alternatives. The Arctic exploration for oil will be done in regions close to already explored areas, so anything discovered will be taken out of the ground and put into the atmosphere much faster than is the norm. One walrus was killed recently, but I doubt the numbers killed with this decision will be counted.
Cover Image: Trond Reidar Teigen
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