The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era
Freya the Walrus, who often climbed onto docked boats to sunbathe and frolic, was euthanized by the Norwegian Department of Fisheries in the Oslo fjord in August 2022, sparking international outrage and media attention. Since walruses are social animals, and since the Anthropocene era of climate cha...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:35f80d9927874c4fa0cecdcc1db44fe4 2023-10-09T21:49:15+02:00 The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era Abigail Levin Sarah Vincent 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 https://doaj.org/article/35f80d9927874c4fa0cecdcc1db44fe4 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/17/2788 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615 doi:10.3390/ani13172788 2076-2615 https://doaj.org/article/35f80d9927874c4fa0cecdcc1db44fe4 Animals, Vol 13, Iss 2788, p 2788 (2023) animal ethics climate ethics sovereignty capabilities approach human–wildlife interactions wildlife in urban areas Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 2023-09-10T00:35:13Z Freya the Walrus, who often climbed onto docked boats to sunbathe and frolic, was euthanized by the Norwegian Department of Fisheries in the Oslo fjord in August 2022, sparking international outrage and media attention. Since walruses are social animals, and since the Anthropocene era of climate change has displaced animals from their Arctic homes, forcing them to migrate, we can expect more human–animal interactions at such places as marinas, where Freya met her end. This paper asks and attempts to answer how we can make such interactions just going forward? In cases such as Freya’s, we need to reconcile three competing interests: the animal’s interest in living a flourishing life as best they can in a changing climate; the public’s interest in a safe and fulfilling wildlife encounter with an animal they have come to know intimately enough to name and follow devotedly on social media; and interests in maintaining private property. Examining these interests through the philosophical lenses of co-sovereignty, capability, and individuality, however, will yield more just results for animals in similar situations of conflict and co-existence with humans in urban spaces. We argue that, going forward, state resources should be expended to safeguard the public from marina access if safety is a genuine concern, while private money should be spent by marinas to enact safe animal removal with a no-kill policy. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change walrus* Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Freya ENVELOPE(160.850,160.850,-77.600,-77.600) Animals 13 17 2788 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
animal ethics climate ethics sovereignty capabilities approach human–wildlife interactions wildlife in urban areas Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 |
spellingShingle |
animal ethics climate ethics sovereignty capabilities approach human–wildlife interactions wildlife in urban areas Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 Abigail Levin Sarah Vincent The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era |
topic_facet |
animal ethics climate ethics sovereignty capabilities approach human–wildlife interactions wildlife in urban areas Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 |
description |
Freya the Walrus, who often climbed onto docked boats to sunbathe and frolic, was euthanized by the Norwegian Department of Fisheries in the Oslo fjord in August 2022, sparking international outrage and media attention. Since walruses are social animals, and since the Anthropocene era of climate change has displaced animals from their Arctic homes, forcing them to migrate, we can expect more human–animal interactions at such places as marinas, where Freya met her end. This paper asks and attempts to answer how we can make such interactions just going forward? In cases such as Freya’s, we need to reconcile three competing interests: the animal’s interest in living a flourishing life as best they can in a changing climate; the public’s interest in a safe and fulfilling wildlife encounter with an animal they have come to know intimately enough to name and follow devotedly on social media; and interests in maintaining private property. Examining these interests through the philosophical lenses of co-sovereignty, capability, and individuality, however, will yield more just results for animals in similar situations of conflict and co-existence with humans in urban spaces. We argue that, going forward, state resources should be expended to safeguard the public from marina access if safety is a genuine concern, while private money should be spent by marinas to enact safe animal removal with a no-kill policy. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Abigail Levin Sarah Vincent |
author_facet |
Abigail Levin Sarah Vincent |
author_sort |
Abigail Levin |
title |
The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era |
title_short |
The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era |
title_full |
The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era |
title_fullStr |
The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era |
title_sort |
life and death of freya the walrus: human and wild animal interactions in the anthropocene era |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 https://doaj.org/article/35f80d9927874c4fa0cecdcc1db44fe4 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(160.850,160.850,-77.600,-77.600) |
geographic |
Arctic Freya |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Freya |
genre |
Arctic Climate change walrus* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change walrus* |
op_source |
Animals, Vol 13, Iss 2788, p 2788 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/17/2788 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615 doi:10.3390/ani13172788 2076-2615 https://doaj.org/article/35f80d9927874c4fa0cecdcc1db44fe4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 |
container_title |
Animals |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
17 |
container_start_page |
2788 |
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1779312274492620800 |