The inside story on the saddest polar bear in the world

“豐容计划”能否拯救“最悲伤北极熊”？ 保障动物福利， 我们需要做更多。

Look， its the saddest polar bear in the world！” A middle-aged man says to his young son， recognizing the big bundle of white fur behind the glass pane in Grandview Aquarium， Guangzhou.

The man is pointing at Pizza： the Arctic beast recently given the “saddest polar bear” tag by the media after a petition to free her was created. Launched in March by the Animals Asia charity with the title “The tragic polar bear that suffers for selfies”， the petition to have the aquarium closed has been signed by over 550，000 people.

The aquarium， found inside the Grandview shopping mall， has been dubbed a “prison” and “the worlds saddest zoo” by international media. Judgments have largely been drawn from a video of Pizza slumped on her side， her mouth quivering， that recently went viral.

Pizza， who according to the aquarium is a three year-old female， barely has room to run in her enclosure.

On a personal visit to the aquarium in August， she repeatedly thumped a metal door and threw ice lumps about with her mouth before falling asleep in a corner. A sign says that Pizza spends 66.6 percent of her day asleep. Its a startlingly specific declaration， but judging by the amount of time she spends on her back on this visit its probably not far off. The saddest polar bear in the world？ Perhaps the sleepiest.

Pizzas much-criticized swimming area is more of a bath than a pool， considering her size. Videos have shown her with toys but there is not much to stimulate her beyond chunks of ice. She pays little attention to tourists taking selfies against her enclosures glass panels， or the children thumping them. Staff do nothing to stop them.

“It really should be bigger，” the man watching Pizza with his child tells me. “However， I do think things like this can be good for city people like us， so we can see these animals.”

Dave Neale， animal welfare director of Animals Asia， has also visited Grandview. Speaking of Pizzas enclosure he says： “Its a small， highly restrictive environment which doesnt allow her to carry out almost all of her natural behaviors. Its impossible to satisfy her physical and behavioral needs within such a restrictive environment and therefore she should be removed to a facility that can provide for her needs.”

Photos online have depicted other animal enclosures at the aquarium festooned with feces and insects. Scenes such as these are not on view during my visit， with most enclosures relatively clean， if you disregard a large pile of excrement building up beneath two tethered Shetland ponies. There is， however， an ominous whiff of stale urine emanating from an underpass beneath Pizzas enclosure.

The lack of space in many of the animals areas is far more alarming than that aroma， though. Enormous walruses swim back and forth in a water tank that is barely three times their body length. “Space is limited in the aquarium so they have to go in this tank，” says one staff member.

Graceful white beluga whales perform underwater stunts with divers in a tank that has also been criticized on social media for being too small. Arctic foxes， meanwhile， have to share an enclosure that barely allows the energetic animals space to run at full speed.

The foxes are little bundles of energy， playfully biting each others tails and rolling over each other. Such playfulness has a flipside， though： attracting hordes of tourists who whack the enclosure walls. When one large group surrounds the Arctic fox enclosure the scene is reminiscent of a mass zombie attack in The Walking Dead.

The aquariums rhesus macaque monkeys have even less space to play than the foxes. They do， however， provide the aquarium with an extra revenue stream： punters can pay 20 RMB to feed them by hand. For the same price customers can enter the small enclosure thats home to capybaras （large guinea pig-like rodents）. “Its okay， theyre very submissive，” says a staff member as customers pose for selfies with the twitchy-nosed animals.

Around the corner there is an enclosure housing squirrel monkeys and black swans. The former originate from South America， the latter from Australia and New Zealand. When asked if its safe to house the tiny monkeys and large swans together， a staffer says： “We just put them in together today. Well have to see whether they fight or not. If they do， well separate them.”

In 2009 Chang Jiwen， deputy head of the Resources and Environment Policy Institute， part of Chinas State Councils Development Research Center， submitted a draft law regarding the prevention of animal cruelty to the National Peoples Congress. It didnt get taken further， and Chinese law still has no binding rules about the housing and conditions of captive animals.

As such， lax attitudes to captive animal welfare here abound—as anyone who has visited a Chinese zoo is likely to attest. This is， after all， a country in which a Guilin tiger farm offers customers the chance to pay to see live animals slowly torn apart by tigers that have never honed efficient hunting skills.

But fairly or unfairly， considering the ankle-low standards found elsewhere in the country， the plight of Pizza has shone an international spotlight on Grandview Aquarium this year.

Authorities have already gotten involved， reacting to the aquarium first causing a stir online among concerned netizens shortly after it opened in December 2015. Following social media accusations about the aquariums alleged poor conditions， the Guangzhou Ocean and Fishery Bureau investigated the venue. It found that some animals died or were hurt when moved to the aquarium.

Li Chengtang， deputy general manager of Grandview Aquarium， claims that both social and traditional media reports give false impressions of the venue. He does， however， admit that Animals Asias attention has prompted them to improve their facilities.

Speaking to me at the aquarium， Li says that Pizza cannot be released into the wild because she was born in captivity. He presents documents showing a “polar bear enrichment plan” that involves more play for Pizza and the retraining of staff dealing with her. When asked for his response to Pizzas “saddest polar bear in the world” tag， he says： “Its a reminder for us that we should better protect the bear and provide better care.”

Pizzas “enrichment plan” involves measures such as live fish being put in her pool for her to chase， and food being placed in ice blocks to challenge her. It will not， however， see Pizza moved to a significantly bigger display environment any time soon. Li says that she will have temporary respite via sporadic access to a larger area out of view from customers.

He says that other animals， including the Arctic foxes， are moved between the aquarium and a holding area in suburban Guangzhou that allows them more room to run.

Li also claims that reports about the Guangzhou Ocean and Fishery Bureau investigation were misleading. “No fish died in great amounts，” he says. “Some small fish died [when moved to the venue] but it wasnt the case for large fish， which go through quarantine when they move in. Small fish like jellyfish may die， thats unavoidable.”

He hits back at Animals Asias view that the aquarium puts profit above animal welfare. “We set up this aquarium to educate people，” he says. “People in Guangzhou dont have opportunities to see a lot of marine animals， and we are making their dreams come true.”

Dave Neale of Animals Asia continues to campaign to take away Pizza. He does， however， say that Li and his staff have been receptive to criticism. “They have listened， but do not feel it is necessary to remove the bear and other animals from the facility，” he says. “Instead they want to work with us and others in the zoo industry to improve welfare. The aquarium staff are good people who want to help their animals， but they are unaware of the complex needs of captive wild animals such as these.

“We hope to help them improve welfare and learn about the species needs so they come to the conclusion themselves that it is impossible for them to provide for these needs within the restricted environment they are offering.”

Its a conclusion the Grandview Aquarium team are unlikely to come too soon， if ever. Criticism may continue to pour in from shocked netizens largely from outside China but at the venue， judging by the legions of customers bustling through ticket gates， Pizza continues to draw great business. Tomorrow will be another day of sleeping and selfies for the bear， albeit perhaps soon a mildly more “enriched” one.

After an afternoon in the aquarium， walking past piles of polar bear stuffed toys in the gift shop near the exit， Im glad to leave. The mental discomfort that watching Pizza in her enclosure causes aside， listening to kids bang on see-through walls for three hours really gives you a headache.