‘Lonely’ polar bear in China caged for tourist selfies

An animal rights group is expanding its effort to rescue a polar bear that is “incarcerated” in an exhibit in a mall in Guangzhou, China.

Animal Asia seized footage of the bear inside the Grandview Aquarium, a marine park owned by Haichang Holdings located inside the Grandview Shopping Center. In the video clip uploaded on YouTube, the bear was seen somberly spread on the concrete floor.

Other innocent creatures trapped in the artificial zoo are wolves, beluga whales, and walruses, which reside in cold climates.

In a blog post dated last March, , the global animal welfare organization’s welfare director, Dave Neale, said, “[The polar bear has] nowhere to hide from people taking photos – banging on the windows and shouting. Nothing natural, no attempt to create an environment that would meet the needs of any living bear – never mind this vast magnificent animal.”

The organization launched a petition to liberate the creatures, and has so far received 150,000 signatures.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Neale said, “There is no excuse for any animal to be trapped this way. It’s widely believed that polar bears are one of the hardest of all animals to effectively provide for in captivity.”

Due to an astounding number of signatories, the Grandview Aquarium is currently improving its facilities, such as filling up snow piles for its two other polar bears, Huffington Post reported.

This case blossomed after the death of Arturo, a polar bear who died inside a blistering hot zoo in Argentina.  Gianna Francesca Catolico