On July 3, Arturo, the “World’s saddest polar bear,” died at the age of 30 after 22 years of captivity at the Mendoza Zoological Park in Argentina.
Arturo’s living conditions made him go “insane.” He often exhibited behavior such as repetitive movements that usually showcase the stress of captivity. Hundreds of thousands of people petitioned to rescue him from the horrible conditions he was living in (Argentina is not the best place for a polar bear, after all), but the zoo refused to let him go. You were deprived of everything a polar bear is supposed to experience but may you rest in peace, Arturo. You’re finally free. More info: Facebook (h/t: thedodo)
阿圖羅是阿根廷的最後一隻北極熊，它也被形容為“全世界最悲慘的一隻北極熊”過去的20多年，他一直被迫生活在阿根廷燥熱難當的“地獄”之中。阿圖羅·在1985年年在美國出生。
23年前，8歲的阿圖羅被從美國帶到阿根廷，圈養在阿根廷的門多薩動物園內。阿根廷是南美洲常年處於高溫中的國度，夏天最高溫可達40度，人在這種溫度下都會感覺到熱，更不用說有著厚重皮毛並且在零下40度的溫度也能正常生活的北極熊了。
“Arturo spent a lifetime in conditions that I think would be inherently stressful and unkind to him as an animal”
動物園曾嘗試把牆體刷成了白色，但這不可能從根本上解決問題。他還是很熱，並且表情裡充滿了痛苦和悲傷。阿圖羅的伴侶Pelusa在兩年前去世後，阿圖羅變得抑鬱，焦慮，行為也開始不正常，被診斷患上了憂鬱症......
“Every part of a polar bear’s body is designed for snow, for ice, for predatory habits and roaming huge distances”
阿圖羅龐大身軀無力趴在石塊上的照片出現在網絡上後，引起了很多人的關注。兩年前，人們向阿根廷總統發起了#FreeArturo的請願，動物保護組織的人也希望能將阿圖羅送到氣溫適宜它生存的加拿大去享受冰雪大地。著名歌手雪兒也在網上呼籲阿根廷釋放阿圖羅...
“For 30 years Arturo was deprived of it,” explained Barry MacKay who tried to have Arturo relocated to a zoo in Canada
儘管請願已經獲得了超過50萬人的簽名。阿根廷政府還是拒絕釋放阿圖羅，要繼續把他留在阿根廷。動物園的管理員當時還給出了這樣的理由：“阿圖羅年紀大了，不適合長途旅程。
阿圖羅和他的管理員很親近，我們希望人們不要打擾他了“他們還表示阿圖羅各種失常的狀態，只是因為年紀大了的關係......
“I hope that we can put an end to keeping these animals in environments that aren’t good for them”
大家都別無他法，只能眼睜睜看著阿圖羅就這麼繼續生活在痛苦和抑鬱中.....上週日，31歲的阿圖羅離開了這個世界。阿根廷最後一隻北極熊就這麼在痛苦中死去，一生禁錮在人類的牢籠中，沒有自由，甚至連最基本的適合他生存的天氣都沒有...
May you rest in peace, Arturo. You’re finally free
或許死亡對它來說才是一種解脫。儘管這樣，動物園仍表示阿圖羅的死是因為年老體弱的關係。然而近段時間，園內已經有60多只動物接連死亡。這都和動物園糟糕的環境，過度的擠迫都有著很大的關係。
