29 year-old Arturo the polar bear looks like he’s going insane in Mendoza Zoo in Argentina, according to Bill McDonald, CEO of the Winnipeg Humane Society in western Canada. A YouTube video shows the bear rocking from side to side which, he says, is a potential sign of abnormal behaviour.
The hot weather is taking a toll on Arturo according to Maria Fernanda Arentsen, originally from Argentina. “You can imagine it—a polar bear in the desert, with a swimming pool 50 centimetres deep.”
Protesters have rallied outside the Mendoza Zoo for the last two weeks to demand the bear’s release. Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo has offered to take the bear into its new International Polar Bear Conservation Centre. But zoo officials have apparently declined the offer.
The humane society now wants the Canadian government to pressure the Argentinian government to have the bear moved. (ld with files from CBC)
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