Lonely Polar Bear: Going Insane?

Arturo may be going insane since losing his longtime companion
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 13, 2014 1:00 PM CDT

A polar bear in Argentina is looking sickly, and activists want him relocated to colder climes—but so far Arturo is stuck at Mendoza Zoo in Buenos Aires, the Independent reports. Disturbing video shows him pacing around his concrete enclosure while swaying his head and baring his teeth, possible signs that he's going insane, experts say. Others note that Arturo lost his longtime companion, a bear named Paula, two years ago, and is living in temperatures that climb to 104 degrees Fahrenheit when he's suited to life on frosty sea ice. Worse, his only cool water lies in a "tiny pool" that's 20 inches deep, the Mirror reports.

A Change.org petition to have him moved to a Canadian zoo has generated nearly 30,000 signatures as of this writing, but an earlier discussion about moving him there fizzled when Mendoza Zoo lacked three years of health records on Arturo, which is required by Canadian law, the Winnipeg Sun reports. Another barrier to moving him arose in February when experts deemed Arturo too old and fragile to be relocated. One activist tells Fox News Latino that it was "a halfway fake evaluation that doesn't convince us at all," but the zoo's director said that everything depends on Arturo's health and his ability to withstand a long trip: "We must avoid a big mistake," he said. (More polar bear stories.)

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