Hotel Featuring Live Polar Bear Display Opens to Widespread Criticism
The bears are being kept in an indoor enclosure with artificial ice, small pools of water, and walls painted with snow and ice patterns to entertain hotel guests.
Video source: South China Morning Post/YouTube
A hotel in China that features a live polar bear display has opened its doors amid claims of animal cruelty.
Photos and videos of the hotel, which is part of the Harbin Polarland theme park, show two polar bears being kept in an indoor enclosure with artificial ice and small pools of water. Guests are promised 24-hour polar bear viewing from 21 of its hotel bedrooms, which all look out directly over the bears’ pen.
“Whether you’re eating, playing or sleeping, polar bears will keep you company,” Harbin Polarland’s official WeChat account said in a post.
Harbin’s website claims that “two of the funniest polar bears in the world chase happily every day.” But conservationists and animal advocacy groups have strongly condemned the hotel.
“Polar bears belong in the Arctic, not in zoos or glass boxes in aquariums — and certainly not in hotels,” Jason Baker, the senior vice president for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia, said in a statement. “Polar bears are active for up to 18 hours a day in nature, roaming home ranges that can span thousands of miles, where they enjoy a real life.”
The new hotel has also attracted criticism from Chinese social media users. “Looking at a polar bear slowly having a mental breakdown up close? Such a small place, with so much lighting and so many windows. You should first try putting humans in," one commenter wrote.
Despite the criticism, the Polar Bear Hotel is said to be fully booked for its trial period.
The Harbin Polarland theme park also offers a wide range of other captive animal “attractions” for entertainment purposes including a Beluga whale show, a shark submarine train, and a seal training course.
China has also faced criticism for allowing thousands of bears to be farmed for their bile - and the U.S. is helping to fuel this trade, with hunters in the U.S. killing wild bears to sell their gallbladders. To help protect bears, please add your name to support the Bear Protection Act.
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