[ad_1]
“Whether you eat, play or sleep, polar bears will keep you company.”
This is the announcement of the “world’s first polar bear hotel” in Harbin, the capital of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.
Here, guests of the 21 rooms will be able to see the endangered animal anywhere in the hotel, the hotel management promises.
Videos of the hotel, which looks like a giant igloo, show polar bears swimming in a ring in small pools. Here you will find artificial ice, artificial rocks and icicles for the animals. The floor is white, the light is bright, and large panoramic windows surround the polar bears.
According to spokesmen for the hotel, which opened on Friday, rooms costing the equivalent of 2,500–3,000 SEK per night are already fully booked.
But the hotel is also facing a huge storm of criticism.
“Polar bears belong to the Arctic, not to zoos or glass domes of an aquarium, and certainly not to hotels,” says Jason Baker, vice president of pet rights group Peta, according to Reuters.
Baker claims that polar bears that live in the wild are active for up to 18 hours a day and move in an area that stretches for thousands of kilometers.
It is far from the sandbox that polar bears live in in Harbin. Although Yang Liu, spokesman for the polar country of Harbin, says that polar bears are released if “the temperature and air quality allow.”
China has often received attention for treating animals disrespectfully. Sometimes for business reasons, sometimes for the sole purpose of entertaining people. Last year, for example, a video of a pig forced into bungee jumping went viral.
But now it grows also growing domestic criticism of how animals are treated. A recent poll showed that more than 90 percent of Chinese are against wildlife trade and consumption.
“Closely studying a polar bear that is suffering a slow mental breakdown? Such a small place, with so much light and so many windows. They should try to locate people there first, “writes an annoyed Chinese on social media, according to SCMP.
“A panoramic prison for polar bears … haven’t we learned something about cruelty to animals?” Comments another.
Animal rights organizations in the country urge guests to stay away and not allow lucrative activities related to “animal misery.”
Read more:
“Foreign media puts a gray filter on China”
