Petition to move 'world's saddest polar bear' to Canada
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E-mail CRI, July 23, 2014
Zoo officials in Argentina have announced the last remaining captive polar bear is going to remain in the country, despite a petition by hundreds of thousands of people, demanding it be relocated to Canada.
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The polar bear, named Arturo, is thought to become depressed after his companion Pelusa died two years ago. |
The director of the Mendoza Zoo, Arturo Pronotto, says the 29-year-old bear will not be moved, suggesting the bear's advanced age makes relocation too risky.
"The medical board in February determined that it was not necessary to submit the bear to an analysis to take him somewhere else because the bear was well adapted to the enclosure, to the province, because it has a very good relationship with the staff, and because the conditions Canada required were not the same quality as the one in the zoo in Mendoza."
Polar bears in captivity usually only live until around 30.
Despite this, a global campaign has been launched to try to have the polar bear, named Arturo, moved to a new habitat in the Canadian city of Winnipeg.
The campaign has generated hundreds of thousands of sponsors, including former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
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