Arturo (1985 July 3, 2016) was a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

living in

Mendoza Zoological Park The Ecoparque of Mendoza (formerly, Mendoza Zoological Park) is a park and former zoo in Mendoza Province Argentina. It's located on Mendoza, Argentina on the northeast slope of Cerro de la Gloria. It is bounded by the streets of San Francisco de A ...

in Mendoza, Argentina, the only polar bear living in the country. He was born in the United States and transferred to Argentina in 1993. His companion, a female named Pelusa, died of cancer in 2012. The living conditions of the cage Arturo resided in were controversial, as temperatures reach up to in Argentina, and the pool in Arturo's cage was only deep. Animal rights activists had, in response, dubbed Arturo the "world's saddest animal" and promoted a petition to have him moved to

Assiniboine Park Zoo Assiniboine Park Zoo is an zoo at the west end of Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It has been best known for decades for its polar bear exhibit, of which the old enclosure was replaced in 2013 with Journey to Churchill. Establis ...

, a zoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The petition was created by Laura Morales of Hamilton, Ontario. It gained considerable attention after the hashtag #Freearturo began trending on Twitter. Supporters of the petition also noted that a polar bear died in Buenos Aires in December 2012 due to excessive heat, and argued that Arturo exhibited symptoms of depression and other mental health problems. As of July 19, 2014, the petition had over 400,000 signatures, and had been endorsed by

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

and

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

. Assiniboine Park Zoo responded that while they would have gladly accepted Arturo there, they did not have the authority to do so unless Argentina agreed to transfer him there, and that the Mendoza zoo could not supply the necessary medical records to make such a trip possible. On July 24, 2014, the director of the Mendoza Zoo, Gustavo Pronotto, told the Associated Press that Arturo was too old to be moved to Canada. In social media, people also advocated for Arturo to be moved to Canada. and Twitter hashtag #FreeArturo. Arturo died on July 3, 2016, aged 30–31, despite polar bears rarely living beyond 25.

References

2016 animal deaths Individual polar bears 2014 in Argentina Individual animals in Argentina {{Animal-rights-stub

See also

References