Polar bears struggle to endure summer in Tokyo
August 3rd, 2008 by James
A Reuters news video showing how polar bears cool off in Tokyo:
Zoo keepers at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo stepped in to give the bears some respite from soaring tempretures.
The bears are used to arctic weather so after nine consecutive days with temperatures in Tokyo topping 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) the ice cubes were a welcome treat.
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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.
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I felt awfully badly to see the penguins swealtering in the summer heat at Shinagawa Aquarium when I was there last July. There was no effort made at all to make them more comfortable.
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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.
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