Farewell to Freya, Our Two-Tusked Friend

Alex Grenn '23

Editor-in-Chief

On August 14 2022, a true tragedy befell the world. Freya, a kind and adventurous walrus was killed off the coast of Norway.

Freya was a young 1,300 pound walrus who has traveled halfway around the world. She has been sighted off of the coasts of Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and the Shetland Islands over the past three years. Recently, Freya has been found sunbathing on large boats and innocently sinking some small ones off the coast of Norway. Freya even became somewhat of a celebrity online and in the villages on the coast of the countries she’s visited.

However, on the morning of August 14, 2022, Freya was killed by Norwegian authorities. According to Norway’s Fisheries Directorate, authorities euthanized Freya due to her potential “threat to human life.” It has become clear however, that Freya demonstrated no violence towards humans. In reality, people began to gather around Freya despite authorities advising people to give the walrus space. Because people ignored this advice, authorities began to worry that Freya may one day hurt someone. The Norwegian authorities decided that it would be best if they got rid of Freya.

But did “getting rid of Freya” have to mean killing her? Could Freya have been relocated?

Norway’s Fisheries Directorate was questioned on why they euthanized Freya rather than relocating her. He announced that moving Freya raised many animal welfare concerns which would have made relocating her impossible. However, those concerns were never made public. Killing an animal because moving it might be dangerous to the animal sounds a bit hypocritical.

Many animal conservation experts have announced that there are many modes to move large animals, however they are rather pricey. So the question stands, did Norwegian Authorities actually kill Freya the walrus because it would cost too much to move her? This question has not been directly addressed yet, but the animal activists community is advocating for answers to earn justice for Freya.

But rest assured that Freya will not be forgotten. In memory of Freya, many activists in Norway are petitioning and fundraising for a statue of Freya to be placed in Oslo, the capital of Norway, to commemorate her and her beautiful, peaceful life.