The story of Freya, the walrus

Freya the walrus was an internet favorite … Until the Norwegian authorities decided to kill her.  Here's what happened ...

Transcript

00:00Well, it's a positive thing that people were very fond of her, but it's a negative thing

00:08that people had to go close to her and couldn't leave her alone, because that was the background

00:14for the directorate of fisheries to kill her.

00:17So Freyja Valåsen is right next door to where we have the cabin, and we're going to check if she's still down there.

00:32Freyja was a young walrus, and this walrus had traveled to Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden.

00:39They live in packs as social animals in Svalbard and in the Arctic, but it's not unusual for

00:46young animals to take tours, to look for new habitats.

00:51In the Netherlands, she was sleeping on the marine vessels from the army, and was given

00:57this name Freyja.

00:58Obviously, she was welcomed in all of the countries she had been visiting, and it's

01:05only in Norway that she was described as a problem.

01:08When she first appeared on the south coast, there was a politician who said that she should

01:18be euthanized, but then the directorate of fisheries said that it was not necessary to

01:22euthanize her.

01:23They would not consider euthanizing her.

01:32She ate mollusks, and rested on boats and rested on docks.

01:41She didn't harm anyone, but sometimes people would jump out in the water when she was there,

01:48and then she was very close to people, and people were also gathering very closely around

01:54her, and people were also seen throwing stones and sticks or beating her with sticks, etc.

02:02Suddenly, they said that maybe if people do not keep the distance, they would have to

02:06euthanize her.

02:07As soon as they said that, obviously, both a lot of biologists and NOAA and other volunteers

02:14offered an array of other solutions, for instance, giving people who disturbed her fines for

02:22not keeping to the advice of keeping their distance.

02:26Also, there were suggestions on the table for moving her, which would have been possible,

02:33but the directorate then took this decision without proper procedure, in our opinion,

02:41and suddenly on Sunday morning, she was dead.

02:43It could have been avoided if people had followed the suggestions we have come up with,

02:49but of course, it is complicated with a large wild animal in the most remote areas of Norway.

02:57This is a mollusk that is far from its natural habitat, and then there were many situations

03:07that were risky, and we were happy to follow the steps we have taken.

03:11She was a threatened animal, she was red-listed as vulnerable or threatened on the Norwegian

03:17red list, and the killing could only be justified in an emergency situation or for animal welfare

03:27reasons, and there were no such animal welfare or emergency reasons.

03:32I think Freya became a symbol for many people.

03:35People were very fascinated that a wild animal like her would trust people to come so close

03:43and to be able to study her, but now she is actually more of a symbol than she was alive,

03:49because now she is really a symbol of people not being able to take the proper care and

03:58proper consideration for wild animals.