He was the onlypolar bear in Argentina.Arturo was prisoner for morethan 22 years at Mendosa Zoo in the west of the country, until his deathon Sunday July 3 at the age of 31.
Source : @AFP
He became famousfor tragic reasonstwo years ago, when a petitioncondemning hisliving conditions gathered more than 1.2 million signatures.The petition called for Arturo to be transferred to Canada so that he might have a happy retirement, awayfrom the unsuitable climate of South America. In Argentina, temperatures often climb above 40°C.
Source : @NewtGingrich
The management at the zoo refused, claiming a transfer would be too risky considering the animal's old age.
Since the death of hisfemale companion Pelusa in 2012, Arturo had been suffering from depression. Experts agreed that these were clear symptoms of his deep unhappiness.For these reasons, when Arturo's story made it around the world, he was nicknamed "the world's saddest bear".
Source : @Andres Larrovere / AFP
The zoo says that Arturo passed away as hisbody failed him in his old age.
Source : @Getty / AP
Since Sunday, moving tributes have poured in from across the world. Many different organisations have condemned the inhumane conditions that Arturo wasforced to endure.The Twitter hashtag#BoycottZoosslamming animal captivityis rapidly spreading across the web.
Death finally freed #Arturo the bear, confined in its Argentine zoo's enclosure. Do not be accomplices #BoycottZoos pic.twitter.com/uHDL8bkXXa
— FONDATION B. BARDOT (@FBB_World) July 4, 2016
PeTa has paid tribute to Arturo, calling for people to boycott zoos:
Source : @Andres Larrovere / AFP
Mendosa Zoo, where Arturo was living, has been closed to the public since mid-June after 64 animals died from bacteria in just a few months.Following this sad incident and multiple accusations relating to the wellbeing of animals in the past few years, the local authoritiesrecently announced that the zoo will be turned into an ecopark, following the lead of Buenos Aires Zoo.
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VICTORY: After 140 Years Of Captivity, This Zoo Is Freeing All Its Animals
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