Daily Mail, UK - His shaggy white coat is perfectly suited to icy conditions as low as minus 40C in his Arctic circle habitat. But it is hell in this concrete enclosure at Argentina’s Mendoza Zoo, where the temperature can reach 40C (104F).
Tragic Arturo – Spanish for Arthur – has been a sad tourist attraction at the zoo for around 20 years.
He is thought to have become depressed after his long-term companion Pelusa died two years ago, since when he has had no contact with his own kind.
And there are clear signs that this lonely existence has left the bear disturbed. Experts say he is zombie-like and fear he is going insane. They point to “abnormal behaviour”, in which Arturo can be seen swaying his head and showing his teeth while aimlessly pacing backwards and forwards and rocking side to side.
In the wild, these savagely beautiful hunters spend much of their time swimming in the Arctic seas and traversing the ice in search of their prey.
All such bear necessities are denied to Arturo.
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