Pizza, dubbed the world’s saddest polar bear, is finally getting a reprieve from his zoo enclosure at a mall in China.
According to a social media post by the Grandview Mall in Guangzhou, the mall aquarium is undergoing upgrades and Pizza will be sent back to the park where he was born.
“As a testament to the urban renewal of Guangzhou … and a witness to urban compassion and hearts of love, Pizza, the ‘bear baby’ loved by millions of tourists will say goodbye for a short period of time,” read the press release from the mall.
Animal rights groups around the world have been petitioning for Pizza’s release from the aquarium since images of Pizza appearing forlorn were circulated earlier this year. In late October, a veterinary adviser for Humane Society International (HSI) said Pizza was showing signs of “mental decline.”
READ MORE: Pizza, ‘world’s saddest polar bear,’ shows signs of mental decline in mall zoo
The mall also said they would be throwing a “special farewell party” for Pizza before he is sent off to “return to the embrace of his mom and dad.”
However, The New York Times reported that attempts to identify where Pizza was being sent were fruitless. They contacted Qingdao Underwater World, which is reportedly where Pizza was born, but that aquarium denied that he would be returned there and that Pizza’s parents were also not in their care.
The newspaper also contacted Harbin Polarland, a major polar bear facility in northern China, which also said they were not planning on Pizza’s arrival.
According to the Guangzhou Daily, the upgrades to the exhibition hall will include doubling the size of Pizza’s enclosure.
In a promotional video of the mall, one of Pizza’s main caregivers discusses how they help protect the three-year-old bear’s best interests by helping meet his physiological and psychological needs.
“I treat Pizza as my family member. All I want is for him to live better and happier. I’m proud of my job as a polar bear giver,” says the caregiver identified as ShaSha.
Animal rights activists said they are “cautiously” welcoming the news of Pizza’s relocation.
“Pizza the polar bear has endured a life of deprivation and suffering in his small, artificial, glass-fronted room at the shopping mall, so the news that he’s getting out at last makes me very happy and relieved for him. But we implore the mall to make this a permanent move for Pizza,” said Peter Li, HSI’s China policy specialist.
“No amount of renovation could ever make a shopping mall a suitable place for this animal.”
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