Saturday 13 March 2021

Polar Opposites?

With the Arctic ice disappearing, Polar bears are having a difficult time. These bears (unlike the Brown bear shown above) are adapted to roaming substantial ranges of pack ice in a search for seals and other food. They are distinctly non-social animals, meeting briefly for mating. Polar bears have been coopted, however, as features of the Harbin Polar Land in North-East China (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/12/chinese-hotel-with-polar-bear-enclosure-opens-to-outrage). The establishment is a hotel, built around an enclosure for Polar bears. The heated enclosure is tiny and made entirely of concrete. It also has concrete icicles and painted snow. People are encouraged to stay at the hotel. If they do, they are promised that the bears will be their 'neighbours, 24 hours a day'. The bears don't get a choice. This is a highly inappropriate way to treat Polar bears. They are not pieces of living 'window dressing'. It seems that there is nothing in Chinese law, to stop people acting in this fashion. I would have thought the country might be more sensitive to its animal exploitation, after the Covid-19 origins scenario.

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