On August 14, a stray walrus was euthanized by the Norwegian government for a very simple reason, as they felt the walrus might be a safety hazard. Although the walrus had never hurt anyone, and although it was only suspected that it might hurt anyone, Norway simply chose the last resort – to kill it. As soon as this incident came out, the local people and even a large number of foreign netizens expressed their anger and sadness, and the major news media also reported the incident, and some people said that this incident was Norway's "national shame".
Walrus Freya
Why did the death of a walrus cause such a huge sensation?
The traveler in the walrus "Freya"
The female walrus was given the name "Freya", a goddess of love and beauty in Norse mythology, in fact, since the summer of 2019, Freya has appeared in front of people, and in the following three years, she has also appeared in countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, neither hurting people nor being hurt by these countries.
In 2021, Freya also climbed on the submarine of the Dutch Navy to sleep, and the Royal Dutch Navy also posted a special article saying: "It seems that our walrus-class submarine is more like a walrus than we thought, and even Freya has come to embrace it."
Her biggest loss may have been to crush several boats when she climbed to the boat to sunbathe - because Freya weighed as much as 600 kilograms, of course, this weight is relatively light in walruses, after all, adult female walruses generally weigh 600 to 900 kilograms, and it is expected that Freya is only 5 years old, and in the walrus with an average lifespan of 30 to 40 years old, she is even a minor.
It is believed that this young walrus may have been separated from her mother. Because walruses are social creatures, the number of a group can be dozens, hundreds, or thousands. They will stay together on the shore to sleep and rest, and there will be dedicated walruses acting as vigilantes, alerting other walruses by touching and yelling at each other when they find danger. A solitary "wandering" walrus like Freya is rare.
In July this year, Freya arrived on the coast of southern Norway, and people were very surprised by Freya's appearance, because of her bulky and cute image, she quickly became a local "star", and many people ran to the coast to see Freya, and also fed her food and took photos with her.
Freya spends most of her time sleeping, and only a few times is photographed chasing ducks and swans or diving to eat scallops and oysters. This is also the nature of walruses, who only sleep for long periods of time on the relatively safe shore, while in the sea they must remain awake. Walruses can sleep 20 hours a day on shore, while swimming uninterrupted for 84 hours in the sea.
After the walruses have finished preying, they will climb on the ice floes to rest and digest food, and their natural predators are only polar bears and killer whales. There are no ice floes in Norway, so Freya has to climb on the boat to rest, but the advantage is that she doesn't have to worry about her predators.
But this time, when she was sleeping peacefully on a boat, the Norwegian government was ready to "euthanize" her.
Death of Freya
Since the appearance of the walrus "Freya" in Norway, the local fisheries department has been reminding people not to get too close, after all, walruses are a kind of wildlife, if humans get too close, it may also cause them to be nervous, leading to danger.
But local people repeatedly ignored warnings, approaching Freya voluntarily, sometimes trying to get closer with yachts and boats. Some people also brought their children to watch the walrus. The local fisheries department believes that the noise made by people while the walrus is resting has disturbed her and made her nervous, and the large number of human onlookers has also made Freya stressed.
Freya and the people who were close to her
People were too close to her and could be in danger at any moment.
Why not move Freya to other safe waters? The fisheries department claims that it has studied with experts that there can be significant risks in transferring marine mammals, that there are many problems that are difficult to resolve, and that "its animal welfare cannot be guaranteed," and that the complexity of the matter makes them feel that "this is not a viable option." ”
In short, they finally came to the conclusion that Freya should be "euthanized". But the fisheries department did not say how Freya was euthanized, nor was it vague about the so-called "animal welfare" guaranteed, saying only that it was "in accordance with the regulations." Last month, they were still promoting Freya's arrival, and they turned around and decided to kill it, and the contrast between the front and back was jaw-dropping.
Many expressed unacceptable belief that the government's excesses had killed an innocent life.
Loon Ai, a Norwegian biology professor who has been following Freya, said the government's decision was too hasty, the summer holiday was coming to an end, the number of people watching Freya would soon decrease, and based on past experience, Freya would soon leave the bay, and euthanasia was completely unnecessary.
One person was outraged: "People should be ashamed of their actions, everyone who tries to get close to Freya, everyone who takes a selfie near it should be condemned, people should stay away from wildlife." ”
Another sarcastic: "China evacuated 150,000 people and lost $1.1 million in order to relocate Asian elephants." And in Norway, a cute walrus died because he damaged several small boats."
Freya's story finally ends in tragedy, because of human transgressions, sacrificing her life, representing the goddess of love and beauty, was finally killed by human hands, and she lost the opportunity to return to her hometown forever.
Are walruses really that dangerous?
Freya's "euthanasia" by the Norwegian government department has caused a lot of controversy because of the potential safety risks, so is the walrus really dangerous?
In 2019, during an Arctic expedition by the Russian Navy, an expedition ship encountered a female walrus protecting her cubs, which attacked the vessel, a process known only to those who witnessed it, but the final result was incredible – the expedition ship eventually sank, and the people on board were evacuated without casualties.
Although walruses are relatively docile and timid creatures, their physique also gives them the ability to threaten humans. Female walruses can generally grow to about 3 meters and weigh between half a ton and a ton, while male walruses can grow to 4 and a half meters and weigh 3 tons, almost equivalent to a light truck, although their movements on the shore are very clumsy and slow, but once they are hit or pressed, they may cause serious injuries to humans.
Moreover, walruses, male and female, have a pair of ivory that can be used as weapons. Walruses have 24 teeth, the most unique is the two exposed upper canine teeth, this pair of canine teeth are growing non-stop for life, the male walrus's tusks can reach nearly 1 meter long, and the female walrus's tusks can also be nearly half a meter long.
Their fangs are generally used to dig up shrimp, crabs, mussel shells and other food in the sediment on the seabed, but they can also be used to chisel 20 cm thick ice under the frozen sea surface to breathe.
Walruses' tusks are also their weapons of battle, male walruses will fight each other for mating rights, or possibly for a little space on the crowded coast, and the walruses' tusks are enough to pierce each other's skin, making both sides bloody. However, walruses have thick skin, up to 5 centimeters, and there is a layer of fat more than ten centimeters thick under the skin, so the fight between walruses is rarely life-threatening, but it is very dangerous for humans to be stabbed by their tusks.
epilogue
It is true that Freya the walrus may have hurt the crowd that was watching her, but as netizens have said, it is those who have not listened to advice, the government that hastily made the decision to "euthanize": before trying other methods, it directly used last resort to make an innocent life pay for human fault.
Humans and wildlife, or keep a distance as well.