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Norway considers euthanising walrus that won hearts in Oslo fjord

Norwegian authorities are considering putting down a walrus that won hearts basking in the sun of the Oslo fjord, amid fears it is putting itself and the public in danger.

Published: 12 August 2022 10:13 CEST
Norway considers euthanising walrus that won hearts in Oslo fjord
Illustration photo of a walrus. Norway is considering putting down a walrus that has been spotted regularly in Oslo fjord this summer, citing possible danger to the public. Photo by Romy Vreeswijk on Unsplash

Despite repeated appeals to the public to keep their distance from the walrus — a young female weighing 600 kilos (1,300 pounds) that has been nicknamed Freya — the mammal continues to attract big crowds, the Fisheries Directorate said in a statement on Thursday.

Its text was accompanied by a photograph of a group of onlookers crowding near the animal.

“The public’s reckless behaviour and failure to follow authorities’ recommendations could put lives in danger”, a spokeswoman for the fisheries agency, Nadia Jdaini, said.

“We are now exploring other measures, and euthanasia may be a real alternative”, she added.

Freya, whose name is a reference to the Norse goddess of beauty and love, has made headlines since July 17th when she was first spotted in the waters of the Norwegian capital.

Walruses normally lives in the even more northerly latitudes of the Arctic.

Between long naps — a walrus can sleep up to 20 hours a day — Freya has been filmed chasing a duck, attacking a swan and, more often than not, dozing on boats struggling to support her bulk.

Despite the recommendations, some curious onlookers have continued to approach her, sometimes with children in tow, to take photographs.

“Her health has clearly declined. The walrus is not getting enough rest and the experts we have consulted now suspect that the animal is stressed,” Jdaini said.

A protected species, walruses normally eat molluscs, small fish, shrimps and crabs. 

While they don’t normally attack people, they can if they feel threatened, according to authorities.

Member comments

  1. Ridiculous to euthanize a walrus because some persons use poor judgement, even putting their children at risk. Why doesn’t the local authority corden off the area and let only people who live/boat in that area in? Why don’t they relocate Freya? If she is not eating well, why don’t the local authorities provide her with her natural diet? There must be plenty of fishermen/fisheries that have extra shrimp, crab, molluscs, small fish. Besides the fact that Freya is a sentient being, she is protected.

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OSLO

Is Oslo’s project to speed up work permits on track?

The City of Oslo aims to cut work permit processing times in the capital down from nine months to just three days. The Local has contacted authorities to update readers on the latest developments.

Published: 6 May 2024 10:09 CEST
Is Oslo's project to speed up work permits on track?

For years, Norway has been grappling with a shortage of skilled professionals, notably in the technology and IT sectors.

Recognising the need to address this talent gap, The City of Oslo and other partners launched a pilot project in 2023 called Kompetansespor (Competence Track).

The primary goal was to reduce the lengthy wait times for skilled workers to get work permits from around nine months to three days.

READ ALSO: What’s next for Oslo’s plan to slash work permit waiting times?

But what is the current status of the project? And is the new super-fast work permit process any closer to becoming a reality?

How the project has evolved in 2024

Since its inception, Competence Track has evolved into a more ambitious project that goes beyond just cutting work permit times.

The project’s focus has shifted towards new goals, which mostly revolve around exploring the use of a “digital wallet” to streamline the immigration process.

To make this happen, partners involved in the project, such as the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), will collaborate with other key stakeholders from the governmental, municipal, and private sectors.

READ MORE: How Norway’s permanent residence rules have been tweaked

As the UDI explains in a document seen by The Local, a digital wallet refers to “an electronic application or platform that allows users to securely store, manage, and share digital identity credentials and other types of digital data,” which plays a “central role in handling digital evidence or verifiable credentials in a digital ecosystem.”

The wallet allows relevant authorities to access the holder’s paperwork, rather than having documents and credentials stored separately across several portals. 

New goals

The main aim for 2024 is to develop and explore an efficient and user-friendly process flow that can support the immigration of skilled workers to Norway.

According to a document that the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) shared with The Local, other goals for the year include creating a prototype to test the efficacy of the digital wallet in improving immigration processes, investigating the feasibility of pre-qualifying employers to speed up the immigration process, and showcasing how collaboration across sectors can create better services for users.

The project remains committed to reducing administrative burdens, processing times, and information exchange accuracy, as well as preparing Norway for future challenges related to global mobility and digitalisation.

Meanwhile, the Oslo Business Region writes on its website that additional target groups such as students and family members of work permit applicants would be included in the fast track residence permit scheme. 

From the information available at the time of writing, it seems that project will still revolve around Oslo.

Gustav Try, an advisor at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), told The Local that the UDI’s Department of Managed Migration is currently working on a new test phase called “Pilot 2.0”.

“We are currently working on Pilot 2.0, but it is not finalised. The plan is to pilot it on selected students at the University of Oslo (UiO) in August. We are also considering piloting it on skilled workers, including UiO employees, throughout the autumn,” the department said.

Back in September, Thea Ullhaug Pope, senior content developer for the City of Oslo, told The Local that one of the long-term ambitions of the project is to try and get the scheme adopted by other regions and then nationally.

However, while the Competence Track project continues to progress, it seems unlikely that the initial ambition of reducing work permit waiting times from nine months to three days will be achieved on a mass scale anytime soon.

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