Millennium Development Goals demand answers if Freya’s cutting is illegal – NRK Norway – Overview of news from across the country

The Green Party wants a legal assessment of whether the killing of Freya the walrus this summer was illegal. The Norwegian Fisheries Directorate replied that they are in the dark.

All summer, hFreya the walrus attracted a lot of attention when it moved around the Oslofjord. Sunday August 14th it was over.

Freya Rahim was shot in the head with a gun by personnel of the Directorate of Fisheries in the early morning at Frognerkilen in Oslo.

The walrus weighed 645 kilograms, including packing/tarpaulin, when it was autopsied at the Veterinary Institute.

There they concluded that a bullet to the head caused immediate unconsciousness and death.

Noah: – Unlawful killing

The Noah Organization, which promotes animal rights, says the killing came as a great shock.

– We have a murder, without actual resolution, which we believe to be unlawful and which no competent body of law has considered, he says manager at Noah, Siri Martinsen.

Noah complained about what they believed to be an unlawful killing to the Civil Ombudsman, who chose not to prioritize the case.

– We think it’s a shame. We think this should be taken more seriously now in Freya’s case because we could quickly end up in a similar situation again. We think it’s very unfortunate that they might have seen this as a one-off situation, he says Martinsen.

The Millennium Development Goals call for a legal review

The Green Party (MDG) in the Norwegian Parliament is taking it even further.

– We are now asking the Investigative Section of Parliament to make a statutory assessment of the protection of marine mammals in particular after Freya was killed this summer, he says Vice President Ingrid Leland on the Millennium Development Goals.

– We think it was very sad and disturbing that we as a country and the government chose to confront that animal with death in the end. It becomes a symbol of how we as a society relate to wild animals.

During the spring, the Millennium Development Goals will propose a new bill for Strengthening the legal protection of wild animals. The party believes it is important to have this in place the next time something similar happens.

– There is a lot we are doing that makes the habitats of walruses like Freya uninhabitable, and in the future we can expect even more stray animals in our habitats. Then we have to know what is the right and good way to meet those animals, he says purple.

He should have tried other solutions

Both the MDGs and Noah question whether the cull is in line with the Berne Convention, which Norway is a signatory to, which states that exclusion of endangered species can only be adopted in exceptional cases. Walruses are a red-listed protected species in Norway.

– It can’t be the case that you can just shoot wild animals, especially endangered animals, while they are sleeping and call it a form of emergency law to prevent danger. You actually have to try alternative methods first and it’s not done. It’s been talked about, but not tried, says LOath in Noah, Siri Martinsen.

Noah believes anesthesia and moving should have been tried first.

Otherwise, the organization called for police fines for people who flout guidelines not to approach walruses, and GPS tags placed on Freya to inform the public of his whereabouts.

The Directorate of Fisheries does not agree

– We think the Norwegian Department of Marine Mammals is in line with the Berne Convention, Fisheries Director Frank Back-Jensen tells NRK.

He says the Fisheries Directorate is responsible for managing marine mammals.

– This means that we are legally responsible for making a decision about the culling, says Fisheries Director Frank Back-Jensen.

– Other solutions have been considered. Keep your distance and move on and kill at the end. We actively communicated on a number of channels throughout the summer with a clear message.

He notes that the walrus is a wild animal weighing several hundred kilograms.

– The Director of Fisheries says careless behavior in this animal’s vicinity can stress the animal, trigger dangerous situations and potentially endanger human life.

He also states that the experts estimated that any move would carry a high risk of harming or killing the animal.

– A suitable container for transportation had to be designed and manufactured. Shipping to a place too far to return. Back-Jensen says the uncertainty was too great to be able to do such an operation.

Noah: – meThere is no emergency right

Noah believes that killing is to pull the so-called The emergency court is too far away.

– It is clearly not legal when you are actively hunting for and shooting an animal while it is sleeping.

What do you think is needed to achieve emergency justice?

– Then there is a situation of immediate danger where, for example, you have an animal attacking or you are in an acute situation. There must be some kind of proximity to the danger and situation that leads to an emergency law. It can’t be that one is generally afraid that something might happen.

– If you are in such a situation, you have the opportunity to find other solutions, and this is what the Berne Convention obliges you to do when it comes to endangered animals, she says. Martinsen in Noah.

– A number of dangerous situations have been observed

in a Press release Regarding the culling, the Fisheries Directorate wrote that last week, from their own observations, they concluded that the risk of dangerous situations for people and animals was very high.

– Here again we disagree with Noah. We have observed a number of dangerous situations. So it’s clearly within the emergency law to euthanize an animal, and it’s also within our rules for euthanasia to transport an animal while it’s asleep, Fisheries Director Frank Buck-Jensen said.