Arturo, World's Saddest Polar Bear, Dies After Decades In Captivity

Arturo, a 31-year old polar bear held in captivity for more than two decades, has died in Argentina.He first made headlines as theworlds saddest beartwo years ago, whenmore than a million petitioners urged Mendoza Zoo to move Argentina's last polar bear to a facility in Canada. The zoo's former director declined to do so, saying the animal was too old.Arturo had lived in the zoo since the age of 8 before his death on Sunday due to what the officials called complications from old age, The Associated Press reports. While wild polar bears often die in their teens, those in captivitycan live into their mid-30s.Despite the animals hailing from regions north of the Arctic Circle, temperatures in Arturo's heavily concreted enclosure often soared higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit and he was said to live in "deplorable conditions."Animal rights groups marked Arturo's passing with some calls to end the existence of zoos in their current form.RIP Arturo, the "saddest polar bear in the world" He had spent the last 23 years suffering at a zoo in Argentina. https://t.co/SgTsX4mOPm PETA (@peta) July 4, 2016 Greenpeace Argentina released a statement saying Arturo's time in the zoo "prioritized the exhibition for commercial and recreational purposes over conservation and animal welfare.""Remember that [Arturo] was not the only animal in captivity and in poor condition," Soledad Sede, a campaigner for the group, said. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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