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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2023
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2076-2615/13/17/2788/ 2023-10-01T03:54:12+02:00 The Life and Death of Freya the Walrus: Human and Wild Animal Interactions in the Anthropocene Era Abigail Levin Sarah Vincent agris 2023-09-01 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 eng eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Wildlife https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Animals Volume 13 Issue 17 Pages: 2788 animal ethics climate ethics sovereignty capabilities approach human–wildlife interactions wildlife in urban areas animals in cities Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 2023-09-03T23:55:18Z 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. Text Arctic Climate change walrus* MDPI Open Access Publishing Arctic Freya ENVELOPE(160.850,160.850,-77.600,-77.600) Animals 13 17 2788 |
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ftmdpi |
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English |
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animal ethics climate ethics sovereignty capabilities approach human–wildlife interactions wildlife in urban areas animals in cities |
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animal ethics climate ethics sovereignty capabilities approach human–wildlife interactions wildlife in urban areas animals in cities 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 animals in cities |
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 |
Text |
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 |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 |
op_coverage |
agris |
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 Volume 13 Issue 17 Pages: 2788 |
op_relation |
Wildlife https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13172788 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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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1778521598411669504 |