The “Polar Bear Hotel” in the second phase of Harbin Polar Museum opened on March 12 with a gimmick of “millions of yuan on the world’s first Polar Bear Hotel, where polar bears can be seen in every room”. However, it attracted criticism from many media and environmental organizations.

Are polar bears in the hotel legally approved? What is the daily life for polar bears in it? How big is the captivity area? What is the impact of the crowd on them? With these questions, the CBCGDF sent a working group to the scene within the shortest time, witnessing the following:

“Two polar bears are male, one named Tangji and the other named Hede. They are brothers and have been there for 16 years.” the trainer told the working group of CBCGDF, “They eat more than 25 kilograms of beef per day. When they are happy, they will play in the exhibition area, and when they are hungry, they will signal to the keeper by beating the glass.”

According to the team’s observation, the hotel has two swimming pools for polar bears. But Tangji has been repeating the stereotyped action for quite some time, while Hede has been constantly eating, without much reaction to the changes around. “But they are sensitive to color. When I launched the green flag of CBCGDF, they all came to us with a strong sense of curiosity.” the representative of the working group said.

At noon on March 15, the working group of CBCGDF held a seminar with the manager of the polar bear project, in which the Law Enforcement Department of Songbei District of Harbin City, the head of CBCGDF local rescue station, and the representative of Green Great Committee (Harbin) took part.

The Deputy General Manager of the hotel briefly introduced the second phase of Polar Museum project, saying that the first phase of the project, as a research and popular science education base, has popularized the knowledge of animal protection to the public for 15 years. The second phase, based on the first phase, was dedicated to building a national popular science education base. This hotel was partly opened on last Friday, with an area larger than the first phase. It was also equipped with other isolated venues, including venues for accommodation, exhibition, and outdoor activities, meaning that polar bears could walk outside and breathe fresh air at their will. Every glass adopted one-way vision and all lights must turned off during time of resting, to protect polar bears’ mental health. He added that the hotel paid great attention to their diets and physical conditions and that both polar bears were in good health.

Dr. Zhou Jinfeng,the Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the CBCGDF, participated in the meeting online. He stressed three points at the meeting:

1. The relevant approval procedures of polar bears and the graph of accommodation areas should be published to the public. The hotel should further improve the enrichment facilities.

2. The hotel should not force polar bears to the exhibition area and should not close doors to accommodation areas. It should fully respect the polar bears’ own choices. Flashbulbs should not be used in their venues. And visitors should not be allowed to feed polar bears willfully.

3. In the spirit of respecting species and adjusting relocation, we should protect polar bears in a science-based manner, so as to conduct scientific research on polar bears and adopt conservation through relocation, to promote the construction of a community of shared future for all life on earth.

“We hope that the hotel can make prompt changes, accept the views and suggestions from the society, and show the world every detail of our efforts to build ecological civilization!” Dr. Zhou said.

At the meeting, the hotel manager said that he would accept the suggestions from CBCGDF and society to correct the matter in time. He promised to gradually improve the enrichment facilities, formulate relevant regulations and standards to ensure the living environment and physical and mental health of polar bears, and carry out regular and standardized operation. And the relevant approval procedures will also be disclosed at the proper time to the public.

CBCGDF will continue to follow up this matter, and all views are welcome.

Translator/YJ

Original Chinese article

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1694447074818371014&wfr=spider&for=pc

Contribution

https://www.paypal.me/CBCGDFChina

http://www.cbcgdf.org/English/ConfirmDonaTion/0.html