Polar bears struggle to endure summer in Tokyo

To ignore the ethics of keeping wild animals captive for our entertainment for a moment, zoos have a responsibility to provide an environment that is as stress free as possible for the animal. I find it difficult to see how they justify throwing a few ice cubes to an arctic animal as providing comfort. I assume that their main enclosure is air conditioned and they have probably acclimated somewhat to their captive condition, but ICE CUBES…REALLY??? The average summer arctic HIGH is -1.5C (29F). Maybe zoos should stick to keeping animals native to the country. I have yet to see a tanuki in a zoo (which I would love to see), but I have seen plenty of penguins and flamingos.

Saying “kawaiii” does not equal a real love of animals. I see so many dogs tethered with one-meter chains, living on concrete for 23.5 hours a day; and was disgusted by the conditions at Ueno Zoo. In my books, the treatment of animals in Japan gets poor marks.