Footage and photos captured inside Grandview Aquarium, located inside a mall in Guangzhou, China, reveals a sad tableau. Animals, including bears, wolves, beluga whales and walruses, were seen trapped in barren, dimly-lit enclosures as people clamored to take their picture, sometimes banging loudly on the glass to attract the animals’ attention. 
 
 “One bear paced back and forth in a small enclosure, displaying behavior that experts say reflects stress and possible psychological problems. Wolves lay listlessly in a small room while walrus calves and belugas swam back and forth in confined spaces,” described The Washington Post earlier this year. 
 
 The facility was dubbed the “saddest zoo in the world.” It was also described as a “prison.” 
 
 Animals Asia 
 
 One video released by Animals Asia, a Hong Kong-based animal charity, showed a bear at the zoo, believed to be polar-brown bear hybrid, lying limply on the ground of an enclosure. 
 
 The bear “suffers for selfies,” the animal welfare group wrote. 
 
 “Trapped in the middle of a shopping center in China ― his white fur contrasting against the unnaturally blue display he is an unwilling part of ― this sad polar bear has no escape,” wrote the group. “Nowhere to hide from people taking photos ― banging on the windows and shouting. Nothing natural, no attempt to create an environment that would meet the needs of any living bear ― never mind this vast magnificent animal. 
 
 Grandview Aquarium, also known as Grandview Mall Ocean World, first caught the world’s attention earlier this year when Animals Asia launched a petition calling for the zoo’s closure. The petition has been signed by more than 270,000 people. 
 
 “Taking animals from their natural environments can never be defended, but when they’re rehomed in conditions like we’re seeing at the Grandview Aquarium, it’s the worst possible situation,” said the group. “We all need to continue to publicly object to such facilities.” 
 
 The onslaught of public criticism reportedly had an impact on the zoo, according to an update last week by Animals Asia. However, the facility remains open. 
 
 “Animal lovers may be boycotting the facility, but those less well aware of the issues are not. Commercially, any impact is not hurting,” wrote Dave Neale, the charity’s animal welfare director. 
 
 Animals Asia 
 
 Still, Neale stressed that public pressure was helping to move the needle on the issue. Management at the facility had been “genuinely shocked by the international outrage,” he said, and invited the group to advise them on how to better care for the animals. 
 
 “It is difficult for me to work with people that have chosen to house animals such as this bear in such poor conditions, but they were very open,” Neale wrote, adding that the zoo had already implemented some of his group’s recommendations, including providing piles of snow for its two polar bear hybrids. 
 
 Neale said he doesn’t believe the zoo will shutter its doors anytime soon, but hopes that continued pressure will lead to “significant changes.” 
 
 “Make no mistake. Keeping animals in this way is not acceptable. We’ll keep helping, we’ll keep pushing for change,” he said. “If our experience has taught us anything ― first you open doors, then you open cages.” 
 
 Earlier this year, a manager at Grandview Aquarium was quoted in local media as saying the facility provided adequate living space for the animals, and that its aim was to “popularize science and nurture marine life.” 
 
 The aquarium did not respond to The Huffington Post’s requests for comment. ||||| Grandview has opened its doors again to Animals Asia and promises a better life for its animals – but its refusal to release them leaves us with a moral question, writes Dave Neale. 
 
 See also: 
 
 This Chinese mall has become a prison for animals 
 
 Pressure increases on “World’s Saddest Zoo” after Animals Asia report 
 
 The tragic polar bear that suffers for selfies 
 
 "World's saddest zoo" bosses invite Animals Asia to discuss concerns 
 
 Here’s the problem that we face every single day in working with captive animals in Asia. Threatening frequently changes little – while walking away changes nothing. Staying and talking and working together means there’s an on-going chance for positive change. 
 
 But who wants to make talk and work with people who manage animals in ways that cause them to suffer? 
 
 The answer is, we do. 
 
 For many years Hanoi Zoo was a tragic place and was showing no signs of improvement and the truth is it is still far from acceptable with more needing to be done to improve the welfare of the animals. But by listening and talking and understanding attitudes and limited resources, we’ve helped. We talked them into unchaining elephants so they could walk around their enclosure. We built structures for bears and tigers to climb and rest on. We slowly converted concrete pits to spaces that at least had some appeal to the animals. 
 
 We’ve made the animals’ lives worth living. And – after gaining their confidence over an extended period – they quietly told us they had listened and they would be closing their animal circus. We had talked them into doing it but we didn’t make them do it. 
 
 That’s the context in which we met the bosses of Grandview – it is difficult for me to work with people that have chosen to house animals such as this bear in such poor conditions, but they were very open. This was our second meeting and this time I saw their facilities from top to bottom. There was no attempt to hide anything from me. We also spoke to more junior staff who actually look after the animals. And now I know that our concerns are theirs too. The day after our visit, following our basic recommendations, the bear keeper provided piles of snow for the bears and is now starting a programme of enrichment. We’re going to input into that for the bears and for the other animals too. 
 
 Because the sad truth is, in this instance, we can’t immediately shut down Grandview. And they are unlikely to free this bear, or any of the other animals they house, at least not in the short-term. 
 
 The pressure has been relentless. Even since I visited, the issue has reached wider media attention being reported here, here and here. And our petition has reached over 500,000 signatures. 
 
 But while negative media coverage has upset them – that was why I was invited – unfortunately it hasn’t appeared to limit visitor numbers. Animal lovers may be boycotting the facility, but those less well aware of the issues are not. Commercially, any impact is not hurting. But please know that you are being heard and it is directly contributing to the opportunity to make these lives better. 
 
 Of course, however, we run the risk by advising Grandview, of being seen as legitimising such conditions – but we can’t walk away. 
 
 By continuing to talk and advise we can help make significant changes. Longer term we can keep talking in the right ears. There are animal lovers among the staff as distraught as we are about what we are seeing not just in Grandview but across China. They want to help. 
 
 We want them to work with us and fight for what we believe in – and we have much to learn from each other. Not least about the wider captive animal industry in China of which this is just the tip of the iceberg. 
 
 We hope one day that all of these animals can live in more natural surroundings – but in the meantime we won’t leave them to suffer. They have friends – millions of them, across the world. 
 
 Make no mistake. Keeping animals in this way is not acceptable. We’ll keep helping, we’ll keep pushing for change. We do appreciate being listened to. We appreciate doors and minds being opened. 
 
 If our experience has taught us anything – first you open doors, then you open cages. 
 
 Dave Neale is Animals Asia’s Animal Welfare Director ||||| The Grandview Aquarium in Guangzhou, China, opened the doors to its animal prison on January 9, 2016, and has already been called "one of the saddest zoos in the world" because the animals there suffer from neglect, poor care, lack of stimulation, and lack of natural light. The zoo is located in a shopping mall. The aquarium displays 500 species—including two polar bears, five walrus calves, six young beluga whales, and two Arctic wolves—in barren enclosures that are too small for them to engage in natural behavior. Spectators have reported that animals display symptoms of zoochosis. The walrus calves and beluga whales have been observed swimming in circles in their small tanks, and the bears, Arctic wolves, and foxes pace back and forth excessively and scratch at the walls. Many captive animals develop such neurotic and abnormal behavior as the result of literally being driven crazy by their confinement. Captive marine animals often die years earlier than their natural life spans from a wide variety of causes, including living in contaminated water, which might have caused the death of a grouper who was found dead inside a tank. The Grandview Aquarium, like all aquariums, is part of a billion-dollar industry built on the suffering of intelligent, social beings who are denied everything that is natural and important to them. Many Chinese citizens have spoken out against the animals' living conditions at the zoo, and a WeChat post about the appalling facility has gone viral. However, we need to raise more awareness to help put a stop to this cruel "attraction." Your help is urgently needed! Please sign our petition asking Cui Tiankai, ambassador of China to the U.S., to use his influence to close the Grandview Aquarium and ensure the welfare of the animals who are imprisoned there. ||||| Hearts all over the internet are breaking for a captive polar bear living in a mall in China. 
 
 An online petition was filed back in March by non-profit group Animals Asia, appealing for a white polar bear that's being kept in Guangzhou, China, to be freed. The makeshift zoo enclosure is also home to another polar bear, six belugas, five walrus calves and a wolf. 
 
 SEE ALSO: Elephant dies a month after being rescued from Thai tourism camp 
 
 These animals are being locked up in the Grandview Shopping Centre in an attraction called the Grandview Aquarium for visitors to take selfies with. 
 
 The white polar bear has become the centre of the controversy, after online videos and pictures, meant to draw attention to what's going on at the mall, went viral. The once magnificent creature is reportedly looking miserable and dejected as visitors consistently knock on its glass cage to get its attention for pictures. 
 
 Animals Asia animal welfare director Dave Neale said in a statement: “There is no excuse for any animal to be trapped this way." 
 
 Animal rights activists are angered that these animals are being taken out of their natural habitats and caution that it will have detrimental effects on the animals' health. 
 
 Neale added: "'Taking animals from their natural environments can never be defended, but when they're re-homed in conditions like we're seeing at the Grandview Aquarium it's the worst possible situation." 
 
 Animals Asia's online petition for the closure and boycott of Grandview Aquarium has gathered over 150,000 signatures since it went up in March. 
 
 Just two weeks ago, another captive polar bear at the Argentine zoo died. Dubbed "the world's saddest polar bear," Arturo had been living alone for four years since experts say he developed depression-like symptoms after his partner passed away from cancer. 
 
 Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. ||||| Two polar-brown bear hybrids, six young beluga whales and five walrus calves are among the animals housed in horrifying conditions in a Chinese mall in Guangzhou. 
 
 The poor state of the animals and limited space has already come under fire from Chinese netizens, with a WeChat post on the shocking situation going viral. 
 
 This zoo in a shopping centre is the brainchild of the largest Chinese operator of ocean parks, Haichang Holdings. 
 
 Opened on January 9, 2016, the Grandview Aquarium has already drawn accusations of neglect in care. In addition, critics have accused the aquarium of keeping beluga whales and walrus calves in spaces too small for them to express their natural behaviours, and keeping their bears in conditions that threaten the animals’ long-term wellbeing. 
 
 Along with the China Cetacean Alliance, Animals Asia has contacted Haichang Holdings to outline the numerous animal welfare issues – including limited space and animal performances. There has been no response to date. 
 
 Animals Asia’s Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said: 
 
 “Taking animals from their natural environments can never be defended, but when they’re rehomed in conditions like we’re seeing at the Grandview Aquarium it’s the worst possible situation. While those behind this may claim this as education, it’s clear the motivation here is bottom line profit. As long as businesses are allowed to use animals in this manner, wealth will always be put ahead of welfare. 
 
 “What is clear is that a significant section of Chinese society will not accept this, and the negativity surrounding the Grandview Aquarium is the only thing that will challenge developments like this. 
 
 “We all need to continue to publicly object to such facilities – and for those living locally, we say, ‘So long as animals are suffering, choose somewhere else to shop. Don’t reward cruelty.’” 
 
 Animals Asia and the China Cetacean Alliance will continue to monitor the situation and push for an end to this cruelty. You can see the conditions in this video, made by Wemedia01 (Vine videos excerpted courtesy of Wemedia01). 
 
 For a more humane business model, this mall needs looks no further than Chengdu, China. Last year, Animals Asia worked with a mall in Chengdu that was determined to buck the trend of using animals to sell their products. ||||| Warning: This post contains graphic and upsetting videos. 
 
 Gaunt sun bears in an Indonesia zoo, so hungry they've taken to begging visitors for food and eating their own faeces, have been captured on video by animal rights activists. 
 
 Footage shot by the Scorpion Wildlife Trade Monitoring Group showed several emaciated bears at a zoo in the Indonesian city of Bandung. 
 
 SEE ALSO: Circus ties endangered tiger down on a table so people can get selfies 
 
 While bears in enclosures very rarely beg for food, you can see the bears rushing for pieces of fruit thrown in, and begging visitors for more. 
 
 Another video also showed a bear eating its own faeces. 
 
 "The bears are kept in a concrete cage and no grass. [There is] nothing natural, it is all very cruel", Marison Guciano, senior investigator of the Scorpion Foundation told Mashable. 
 
 The group has been sending investigators down to the zoo from mid-last year to monitor the bears' habitat. 
 
 Guciano added: "[It is] one of the worst zoos in all of Indonesia. Maybe it would be best if this place was closed down now, before more animals die a painful and avoidable death." 
 
 The Bandung zoo was also implicated in an alleged case of neglect last year, when its endangered Sumatran elephant died after it fell ill. 
 
 After the bears' videos went viral, a petition looking to shut the zoo down was started, and has reached over 200,000 signatures. 
 
 A sun bear at Sydney's Taronga zoo Image: Getty Images 
 
 Visitors have left numerous critical comments on the zoo's TripAdvisor page, with many accusing the zoo of neglect. 
 
 "I could not believe how disgusting and unclean this place was," said a commenter. "The animals are poorly maintained, underfed and generally ignored." 
 
 "Rusty cages, dirty place and really neglected animals. Some of them are very thin. Hell on earth for all these poor animals", said another review. 
 
 Sun bears as typically found in forest habitats in Southeast Asia and have been classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 
 
 The Bandung zoo is not the first in Indonesia to be called out for its poor conditions, with another zoo in the city of Surabaya having been dubbed the "Zoo of Death".
– His name is Pizza and he lives in a Chinese mall where visitors pose for selfies next to his glass enclosure and knock loudly to get his attention. Such is life when you're the "world's saddest polar bear," per the Daily Express. Pizza, a polar bear hybrid, is one of 500 animals living at Grandview Aquarium inside a Guangzhou shopping center, where critics say animals are housed in dimly lit rooms with few if any natural surroundings. PETA calls it "the saddest zoo in the world," asserting that animals "suffer from neglect, poor care, lack of stimulation, and lack of natural light." Foxes and wolves have been spotted pacing in their enclosures and scratching at walls, the group says. Animals Asia first drew international attention to the zoo earlier this year when it started a petition calling for the facility to be closed, reports Mashable and the Huffington Post. More than 270,000 people have added their signatures, leading zoo officials to adopt some of the group's recommendations, including putting snow in the polar bear enclosures, per a release. But more "significant changes" are needed, says Animals Asia's animal welfare director, Dave Neale. "Keeping animals in this way is not acceptable." Neale, who recently toured the facility and says Animals Asia has been asked to advise it, notes, "It is difficult for me to work with people that have chosen to house animals such as this bear in such poor conditions." But "if our experience has taught us anything—first you open doors, then you open cages." (A much-maligned zoo in Buenos Aires is shutting its doors.)