A hotel has been branded “cruel” and “inhumane” after it came to light that polar bears were being displayed in a tight enclosure 24 hours a day.
The controversial hotel in question is known as the Polar Bear Hotel and is part of the Harbin Polarland theme park in northeast China.
The hotel, which was just recently opened to visitors, features a series of rooms with large windows facing the central area where the animals are located.
Soon after the hotel’s opening, animal rights activists began condemning the business and the small enclosure that provides the polar bears with little space to move around.
In addition to the enclosure’s small size and lack of natural elements, the hotel offers to have the animals on display 24 hours a day.
“Polar bears belong in the Arctic, not in zoos or glass boxes in aquariums – and certainly not in hotels,” Jason Baker of PETA Asia said.
Instead of having miles and miles of territory to tread on, the polar bears in Harbin Polarland have barely any space to move around in a room full of plastic decorations and paintings of rocks and snow.
While some visitors were left satisfied after their visit to the hotel, others were quick to take to social media to express their concern over the conditions in the enclosure.
“Gaps in China’s wildlife protection law allows businesses to exploit animals without any concern for their welfare,” an unnamed China Animal Protection Network spokesperson claimed in a statement to AFP.
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Replaced!