Polar Bear Hotel In China Gets Frosty Reception For Featuring Live Bears
Image via Shutterstock
A hotel that calls itself the “world’s first polar bear hotel” has drawn criticisms for its central feature: live polar bears.
The Polar Bear Hotel, which is located in China’s far northeastern Heilongjiang province, opened its doors with the promise of round-the-clock polar bear viewing from all of its 21 guest rooms. The hotel is part of the Harbin Polarland theme park in the city of Harbin.
Photos and videos show the polar bears in an indoor enclosure featuring fake ice and small pools of water. The Guardian reported that there are 33 pieces of tempered glass acting as a barrier between the hotel guests and the polar bears.
Yang Liu, a spokesperson for Harbin Polarland, told Reuters that the indoor area is only part of a larger bear enclosure. The bears are let outdoors when temperature and air quality permit, Liu added.
She also mentioned that interest in staying at the hotel was “very high,” adding that the rooms were fully booked during the trial period. The rooms range from 1,888 yuan to 2,288 yuan (US$290.10 to US$351.56) per night.
Conservationists were quick to criticize the hotel. “Polar bears belong in the Arctic, not in zoos or glass boxes in aquariums—and certainly not in hotels,” Jason Baker, senior vice president at animal rights group PETA told Reuters.
[help needed] May I ask what’s its move-back-and-forth mean? Can we tell its mood and health status from the scene? #polarbear experts’ help needed.
— Jinfeng Zhou (@Zhou_jinfeng) March 15, 2021
Thanks! @NatGeo @PolarInstitute @PolarBears @BearExploration pic.twitter.com/Z4b7X66meh
Polar Bear Hotel in #China, that permits the clients to watch polar bears stuck inside cramped rooms and closed doors, is a new kind of humiliation against animals, cruel and inhuman #stoptorturinganimals pic.twitter.com/GIb4NoQ98V
— Khaled Sulaiman💧 (@ksulaiman) March 13, 2021
A hotel that claims to be the world’s first “polar bear hotel” has opened in China's far northeastern Heilongjiang province with usual guests: live polar bears. pic.twitter.com/p4gnyT7nMQ
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) March 16, 2021
[via Insider, cover image via Shutterstock]
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