Pizza the Polar Bear Has Been Removed from the World’s ‘Saddest Zoo’

Pizza, the “world’s saddest polar bear,” has lived in the world’s “saddest zoo.” Now, he has been temporarily relocated to a park, and activists are hoping that this relocation will become permanent.

The Grandview Aquarium opened on January 9, 2016 in Guangzhou, China. It has been considered a “prison” for the animals as it is located in a shopping mall, where the animals do not get any natural light.

In addition, the animals there have been showing signs of “zoochosis,” in which animals will perform odd behaviours such as rock, sway, or pace because they have nothing to do.

However, it is a semi-happy story for Pizza the polar bear.

Following a campaign led by Humane Society International (HSI), the shopping mall where the Grandview Aquarium is located announced that Pizza “will reportedly be returned to an undisclosed ocean park in North China where he was born, reuniting him with his parents.”

Although this relocation is only temporarily while the Grandview Aquarium finishes their upgrades, animal activists are hoping that this relocation becomes permanent.

Peter Li, China policy specialist at HSI, said:

“Pizza the polar bear has endured a life deprivation and suffering in his small, 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. At last he will feel the sun on his fur, sniff fresh air and see the sky above him. 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 polar bear who has already been through enough.”

Even though Pizza has been given a chance to experience the beauty of nature’s offerings, it doesn’t mean that the mall is a fit place for him to return to.

“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,” Li added. “We warned the mall that soon his decline would be so apparent that it would be difficult to have him on public display. Without a doubt, it has had to act due to tremendous pressure from Chinese and international campaigners.”

#animalrights #animalsuffering