The 'world's saddest polar bear' has been removed
from a shopping centre in China where he 'suffered for selfies'.Pizza, who was kept in an aquarium at China’s
Grandview Mall, has been moved to an undisclosed ocean park in North China,
where he was born, to reunite with his parents.
However, Grandview say the move is only a temporary
one while they renovate Pizza's enclosure.
More than a million people signed a petition calling
for Pizza to be removed from Grandview Mall after footage emerged of him
showing "signs of mental distress", according to an animal rights
group.
Humane Society International (HSI) and its Chinese
animal group partner, Capital Animal Welfare Association (CAWA), urged
Grandview to make the move a permanent one.
Peter Li, from the HSI, said that Pizza would
"at last feel the sun on his fur, sniff fresh air and see the sky above
him".
"Pizza the polar bear has endured a life of
deprivation and suffering in his small, artificial, glass-fronted room at the
shopping mall, so the news that he’s getting out at last makes me very happy
and relieved for him. But we implore the mall to make this a permanent move for
Pizza," he said.
"No amount of renovation could ever make a
shopping mall a suitable place for this animal, and to send him back now would
be cruel and heartless. We commend the mall for being gracious enough to listen
to Chinese and global voices of concern, and hope they will do the right thing
for this poor bear who has already been through enough." Mdm Qin, director
of CAWA, added: "It’s a good decision, the right decision for Pizza, but
it’s not the end. Temporary is not good enough. Now we hope that Grandview will
learn from this episode and move Pizza permanently so that he never again has
to endure the dreadful life in a shopping mall."
Professor Alastair Macmillan, a veterinary adviser
for the HSI, said last month that Pizza was showing signs of ‘mental decline’
in a clip recorded at Grandview. “This polar bear is showing classic stereotypical
behaviour, including head swaying and repetitive pacing, induced by frustration
and poor welfare,” he said. In August, the last surviving animals were rescued
from the 'world’s worst zoo' displaying stuffed carcasses.
While this chain-smoking chimpanzee has become the
'gawker' attraction of a newly renovated zoo in North Korea.
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