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Animal welfare charity, Animals Asia, has said the UK’s Yorkshire Wildlife Park would be a suitable new home for a “lonely” polar bear named Pizza who is very sadly currently living in terrible conditions in a Chinese mall.
Pizza in his enclosure in China. Credit: Animal Asia.
A polar bear dubbed the ‘saddest in the world’, after videos show the “teary-eyed” bear slumped on the floor of his enclosure in a shopping centre in China has been offered a new home in Yorkshire. Pizza made worldwide headlines in July after it was claimed he ‘suffers for selfies’ at the Grandview shopping centre in the city of Guangzhou, with a petition to free him gaining more than 500,000 signatures.
Now the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster has offered the animal a new home in its specially created habitat for polar bears. Its aim is to develop as an international centre for the conservation and rehabilitation of polar bears in captivity and in the wild, explains Animals Asia, an organisation which promotes compassion and respect for all animals.
The Yorkshire Wildlife Park houses a specially created habitat for polar bears, which is currently home to four animals. The park’s Project Polar is an “innovative habitat” for polar bears, including a research and conservation programme.
This could be Pizza’s new home if authorities from Grandview Centre agree to surrender him. Credit: Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
“We would be delighted to see Pizza end up at Yorkshire Wildlife Park,” said Animals Asia’s welfare director Dave Neale.
“There can be a happy ending – Pizza would not only enjoy incredible facilities, he would also be part of a community of bears.”
The charity said no financial payment would be offered for the bear, “with the fear that any funds could be used to buy more animals”.
The owners of the indoor zoo in Guangzhou insist they have made improvements to the park since July. But Animals Asia said conditions were still cramped, with “nothing natural”.
Neither the Grandview Centre nor the Yorkshire Wildlife Park would comment on this news.
This story first appeared on The Telegraph.
