Norway builds sculpture to remember walrus Freya killed by government
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Oslo: Norway's controversially euthanised walrus Freya now has a statue titled 'For Our Sins' to remember her by.
The life-size bronze sculpture shows Freya lying on her side on a shore in Oslo. The walrus had become a popular attraction after it started interacting with humans. She was first spotted in July 2022. Most walruses are afraid of humans but Freya was seen trying to interact with humans.
The 600kg marine animal often clambered onto boats to sunbathe but sometimes ended up sinking the boats. An incident of her chasing a woman into the water from a bathing area was also reported in the media.
Local authorities issued orders to the public to leave the walrus alone because it puts humans and the animal at risk. However, people continued to ignore the warnings. This led to the Fisheries ministry in August 2022 putting down Freya, a move that was widely criticised by the public as well as animal activists.
Soon after that, an online campaign was started to raise funds to make the statue a reminder of how humans treat wild animals.
The creator of the sculpture Astri Tonoian said, "This is how humans treat wild nature, but it is also how humans treat humans. This is how we treated Freya. And so, I will call the statue For Our Sins." Campaign organiser Erik Holm said: "I started this because I'm furious about the way the [Norwegian] Fisheries Directorate and the state handled this situation," reported AFP. She told CNN that she was happy to work on the project almost for free because the issue was close to her heart. She also hopes that the statue will serve as a "three-dimensional history lesson."
The director general of fisheries, Frank Bakke-Jensen, claimed that the decision to kill Freya was based "on an overall assessment of the continued threat to human safety". "Through on-site observations the past week it was made clear that the public has disregarded the current recommendation to keep a clear distance to the walrus. Therefore, the directorate has concluded, the possibility for potential harm to people was high and animal welfare was not being maintained."
The body was taken by the vets for further examination. Walruses are also protected species that typically live further north in the Arctic.