(Oslo) A bronze sculpture of Freya, a walrus who gained worldwide fame last summer for putting on a show in the Oslo Fjord until it was decided to shoot her, has was unveiled on a shore of the Norwegian capital’s Marina Kongen on Saturday.

The life-size artwork of the 600-kilogram young female, lying on her side, was installed not far from where Freya had, during her lifetime, attracted vast crowds by hunting ducks and swans and taking sunbathing on boats that were crumbling under his weight.

The authorities chose to euthanize this animal in August, saying they feared, at the sight of certain signs, that it was feeling stress and that it posed a threat to the public who did not keep their distance despite warnings. guard.

The decision sparked anger and an internet campaign raised more than US$25,000 to sculpt Freya, said organizer Erik Holm.

“I started this because I am furious with the way the Department of Fisheries and the state have handled this situation,” he told AFP, before the unveiling of the sculpture made by Astri Tonoian.

“Beyond Freya’s question, we have to ask ourselves how we treat animals and nature. We need to think about our relationship with wildlife,” he continued.

Freya, believed to be around five years old, had been spotted in the UK, 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 even more northern latitudes, in the Arctic.

Despite repeated calls to stay away, onlookers had approached the mammal, sometimes accompanied by children, to take pictures.

Walruses do not normally behave aggressively with humans but they may feel threatened by intruders and then attack.

Critics of the decision to shoot Freya consider it a hasty decision and disregard for her well-being.

Officials, on the other hand, assured that putting Freya to sleep and moving her to a less populated area would have been too complex an operation.