Can someone be killed for being loved too much? Well, hell yeah. Norwegian authorities are standing firm by their decision of killing beloved Walrus because fans loved her "Too Much".

Freya the walrus was euthanized by Norwegian authorities after becoming a victim of her own popularity—the 1,320-pound female walrus was put down on Sunday, August 14 by Norway's Directorate of Fisheries, "based on an overall assessment of the continued threat to human safety."

Norwegian officials killed Freya the walrus after selfish selfie-seeking humans ignored warnings to respect her space, and she has deemed a threat to human safety. The 1,300-pound walrus, who was first spotted in mid-July in Oslo Fjord, became famous when reports that she clambered onto boats to sunbathe and nap went viral. Freya, named after the Norse goddess of beauty and love, deserved respect and personal space, not death due to human ignorance.

Prior to the killing, Freya’s summer of lounging in a Norwegian fjord had warmed hearts and spawned media reports around the world, including one at this website. Freya was a young female walrus, of a species normally found in the Arctic. And there was something about Freya’s “hot-girl summer” that apparently delighted many people. But Norway’s fisheries directorate “euthanized” (some social media reports are now saying “shot”) the 1,300-pound walrus early on Sunday morning. The directorate said the decision came after the public ignored repeated warnings to keep their distance from Freya.

Frank Bakke-Jensen, a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party, is currently the head of Norway’s fisheries directorate. He also served as Norway’s minister of defense from 2017 to 2021. He said in a statement on Sunday:

I am firm that this was the right call. We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence.

Many are now questioning why crowds couldn’t have been better controlled, or Freya moved.

Freya would draw crowds every time she appeared, which eventually led to her untimely demise. "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," said the Directorate of Fisheries. "Therefore, the Directorate has concluded, the possibility for potential harm to people was high and animal welfare was not being maintained."

Authorities repeatedly warned people not to get too close to Freya, and for good reason—walrus attacks on humans are rare but can be deadly. A man was killed by a walrus in China's Xixiakou Wildlife Park after attempting to take a selfie with the animal. The tourists who flocked to see Freya would continuously get too close while trying to get the perfect selfie, putting themselves at immense and unnecessary risk. This obsession with selfies is one of the reasons authorities felt they had no choice but to euthanize the famous mammal.

But people aren't taking any of these excuses, one Twitter user Emre @Kei33220227 wrote, "#Norway how could you be able to this barbaric nonsense? Shame on you... poor innocent animal... one would think that you have no money!!! All these oil and gas dollars.. couldn't you spare s fee thousand to keep Freya alive! Disgusting!"

Questions have been asked about why Freya wasn't moved to a different location, but apparently, this wasn't a viable option. "We have sympathies for the fact that the decision can cause a reaction from the public, but I am firm that this was the right call," says directorate head Frank Bakke-Jensen. "We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence." 

Freya is the name of the Norse goddess of beauty and love. The female walrus that was named after her has been making headlines since July 17, when she was spotted for the first time. Notably, walruses do not travel this far and are often found in the northerly latitudes of the Arctic.

Silvio Tattiscone  @SilvioTattiscon mocked Norwegian authorities, "A Walrus that's entertained crowds in the Shetlands and Northumberland has been shot in Norway because it might harm someone, don't they understand stay a safe distance. Freya isn't the problem, Norwegian authorities never heard of controlling the public."

Rune Aae, who teaches biology at the University of South-Eastern Norway and would track Freya's movements, does not agree with the decision to put her down. "What I have been warning against for months has happened: Freya was killed, in my opinion, too hasty a conclusion," he said in a Facebook post. "Recently we got a great tool in our hands with the Facebook group 'Freya the walrus – where is she now?' where the public could continuously post observations of Freya. In addition, the Directorate of Fisheries had their own boat out to follow Freya, where they too could inform the public of her position at any time. In sum, everyone would be able to know where Freya was and could act accordingly, i.e. not engage in water activities near her. The downside was the gathering of people on land, but that represents no danger to either party, and could have been easily handled."

Caitlain Hargraves @caitlainzoology pointed out the issue is with the human race, "the fact they euthanized Freya the walrus because humans were getting too close to her literally sums up the human race. people would throw things at her but she was the “danger to the public”. euthanasia wasn’t the answer for this, they should have relocated her. #FreyaTheWalrus."

According to Aae, Freya would eventually have left, and the end of summer vacation would mean the kids visiting the walrus would be safely back in school. "Now there are TWO (!) days until the rain pours down in Inner Oslo Fjord, and the school holidays are immediately over so that the number of meetings with Freya would be reduced to an absolute minimum," Aae says. "Freya had sooner or later gotten out of the Oslo Fjord, which all previous experience has shown, so killing her was, in my view, completely unnecessary, and another example of trigger-happy gun management – for which Norway is already well known. Norway is the country that killed Freya after being around for over two years around the entire North Sea. What a shame! This is just sad!"

Freddy C.  @FreddySky lambasted at authorities, "Freya the walrus has been killed by Norwegian authorities, we invade their territory, raise water temperatures melting sea ice causing walruses to rest more often on land driving them farther from their traditional fishing habitats. The cost of relocation was high so she was killed."

Aae is not the only person who thinks Freya should have been spared—animal rights campaigners are expressing outrage at the decision to put the friendly walrus down. Siri Martinsen of animal rights group NOAH says the tourists themselves should have been punished through fines, and Christian Steel of environmental group Sabima is demanding the fisheries directorate share documentation on who decided to euthanize Freya, and on what grounds. "The directorate cannot keep this a secret just to make things convenient for itself," Steel said. "They have a reason for it. There must have been professionals in the picture who have made an assessment that this animal was stressed."

Despite public backlash, the Norwegian authorities are standing firm by their decision. "I support the decision to euthanize Freya," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told public broadcaster NRK. "It was the right decision. I am not surprised that this has led to many international reactions. Sometimes we have to make unpopular decisions." 

"You cannot expect 1.6 million people not to swim in Oslo fjord," said zoologist Per Espen Fjeld. "People were out swimming and suddenly there it was, a meter away. If you get hit by even a little bit of 600kg of muscle and blubber, everyone knows what happens."

Aislinglouaaa @Aislinglouyt reacted to this, "The murder of Freya is barbaric. A beautiful animal who was doing no harm & would have moved on eventually. Shame on officials for killing her & the selfish idiots who continued to ignore the warnings. Animals are not an attraction for your entertainment. #FreyaTheWalrus"

But many people are now denouncing Norway’s decision to kill Freya. Some are pointing out that the idea that “human life must take precedence” is perhaps worthy of deep thought. Others are calling Norway’s decision “a national shame.” And many have asked why authorities couldn’t move the walrus to a safer area.

Frank Bakke-Jensen said experts at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research were included in the decision-making process. He said moving Freya “was not a viable option” and that there were “several animal welfare concerns associated with a possible relocation.”

He did not provide detail about those concerns, however.

Bottom line: Freya, a young female walrus, had been lounging in the sun in an Oslo, Norway fjord for some weeks. But, on Sunday, August 14, 2022, Norway’s fisheries directorate killed her. An outcry erupted on social media on Sunday that has extended into this week.