It’s now three years since Freya the walrus was shot at the instruction of the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries.
A wandering walrus out of habitat out of range she found herself not in her normal location despite successes managing a similar scenario with Wally the walrus in the art silly and sharing Protocols to aid the management of Freya.
These Norway authorities decided not to accept any advice BDMLR and others provided and and that they were “unable to manage the risk that her presence posed to human life”.. after killing her, they stated the fact that humans were getting too close meant they needed to take this drastic action attempting to place sole responsibility for their barbaric act on the uneducated public.
They said Freya’s death was in the best interests of the people.
This was not a case of “humane euthanasia” this was “pest extermination”.
Murdered for being out of range.
Killed for getting a bit lost for a moment and being in the wrong place.
Think about that for a moment
With the turmoil in our world right now and changes in climate displacement is going to become more and more common.
Freya is a symbol of this.
She is a symbol of humans being unable to share space and unable to accommodate… or perhaps in this case unwilling.
Her death was unnecessary.
Her murder was devastating to many on the world of animal welfare.
They were offered support and guidance from a similar scenario which had been successfully managed with far less resource than they had at their fingertips - they chose to extinguish her life.
I am so sorry that despite a successful petition and an outpouring of global support,
We failed to hold the Norwegian authorities to account for this act.
This will happen again… out of habitats animals seeking refuge!
But THIS cannot happen again.
Let Freya be remembered.
And let #TeamWalrus
Be a symbol that you care about this world and all the life within it… and that you are willing to share space and live from a place of kindness and compassion.
We love you Freya. Rest peacefully x