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Sculpture of euthanised walrus Freya unveiled in Oslo fjord

A bronze sculpture was unveiled Saturday in Norway of the walrus Freya who gained global attention last summer after playfully basking in the Oslo fjord until officials euthanised her.

Walrus
Pictured is a stock photo of a walrus. Photo by Romy Vreeswijk on Unsplash

The life-size sculpture depicts Freya lying on her side on the rocky shore of Oslo’s Kongen Marina, not far from where the real 600-kilogram (1,300-pound) mammal last summer drew large crowds chasing ducks and swans and sunbathing on boats struggling to support her bulk.

Officials chose to put her down in August, citing signs she was experiencing stress and amid fears she posed a threat to the public who did not keep their distance as requested.
The decision sparked anger among some.

An online campaign raised over $25,000 to build the sculpture commemorating Freya, campaign organiser Erik Holm said.

“I started this because I’m furious about the way the Fisheries Directorate and the state handled this situation,” Holm told AFP ahead of the unveiling.

“Beyond the issue of Freya, we need to ask ourselves how we treat animals and nature. We need to think about our relationship to wildlife,” he said.

Freya, who was estimated to be around five years old, had been sighted in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden before choosing to spend part of the summer in Norway.

The walrus is a protected species that normally lives in the more northerly latitudes of the Arctic.

Despite repeated appeals to stay away, curious onlookers approached the mammal, sometimes with children in tow, to take photographs.

Walruses do not normally behave aggressively towards humans, but they can feel threatened by intruders and attack.

Critics said the decision to put the animal down was rushed and did not take her well-being into account.

Officials meanwhile said sedating Freya and moving her to a less populated area would be too complex an operation.

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TOURISM

‘I live here, unfortunately’: Visit Oslo’s new video ad reveals Norwegian humour

In a world of often generic tourism advertisements that blur into a homogeneous montage of landscapes, Visit Oslo's latest video ad brings a refreshing twist and it's been appreciated online.

'I live here, unfortunately': Visit Oslo's new video ad reveals Norwegian humour

A recent video ad featuring Norway’s capital by VisitOSLO, the official marketing organisation for Oslo and the surrounding regions, has been attracting considerable attention on social media.

READ MORE: One day in Oslo: How to spend 24 hours in the Norwegian capital

Featuring the dry, understated humour typical of Norway, the ad stands out by not trying too hard to sell the city’s charms but instead offering an ironically halfhearted endorsement from a local.

A unique tour of Oslo

The ad’s protagonist, 31-year-old Oslo resident Halfdan, gives viewers a tour of his city through a lens of gentle mockery.

“I wouldn’t come here, to be honest,” he begins with a deadpan expression, setting the tone for the entire ad, before adding ‘I temporarily live here… unfortunately’.

As he wanders through the streets, he continues, “Oslo is just not… I mean, is it even a city, you know what I mean? Everything is just so… Available, you know? There’s no exclusiveness.”

His commentary highlights Oslo’s accessibility and small-town vibe, a contrast to the exclusivity often boasted by larger international capitals.

Halfdan also playfully jabs at the city’s cultural scene: “Culture? I don’t know. If you don’t have to stand in line for a couple of hours, is it even worth seeing?”

Standing in front of Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream, he quips, “It’s not exactly the Mona Lisa.”

And he also takes a dig at the locals who swim in Oslo’s fairly pristine waters. “It’s disgusting,” he says.

 

Reactions on Twitter

The ad has sparked a flurry of reactions on Twitter, showcasing that it resonated with audiences.

One user praised the ad’s cleverness: “This is pretty great. If people don’t ‘get it,’ they don’t deserve to go.”

Others echoed this sentiment with comments like “A city is also its attitude. And the choice of narrative in this ad says it so well” and “I want to visit Oslo now, haha.”

However, amidst the praises, some users pointed to Oslo’s high prices as an obstacle, with one noting, “Good ad. Except. It’s just LUDICROUSLY expensive. Like, laughably, impossibly so.”

Another added, “He got his table at that restaurant so easily because those three pieces of asparagus will cost him 50 US dollars.”

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