SHANGHAI – A hotel in China has received widespread criticism for allowing guests to stand beside huge white polar bears.
Part of the Harbin Polarland theme park in the city of Harbin, in the far northeast of the country, in Heilongjiang Province, “The Polar Bear Hotel” opened its doors on Friday, with the promise of viewing bears 24 hours a day in all 21 guest rooms.
“Whether you are eating, playing or sleeping, polar bears will keep you company,” Harbin Polarland’s official WeChat account said in a post on Thursday.
Photos and videos from Chinese state media showed people watching two polar bears in an enclosure covered with artificial ice and small pools of water.
But conservationists and animal rights groups have criticized the hotel.
“Polar bears belong to the Arctic, not in zoos or glass boxes in aquariums – and certainly not in hotels,” Jason Baker, senior vice president of the animal rights group PETA, told Reuters on Saturday.
“Polar bears are active for up to 18 hours a day in the wild, covering residential areas that can span thousands of kilometers, where they enjoy a real life.”
In 2016, a shopping mall in the southern city of Guangzhou drew global condemnation after videos of a polar bear called Pizza appeared, lying on its side in a glass-walled enclosure.
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Yang Liu, a spokesman for Harbin Polarland, told Reuters that the indoor area is only part of the bears’ total enclosure and that they can stay outdoors when the temperature and air quality allow.
She said interest in staying at the hotel, where rooms range from $ 290 to $ 351 a night, was “very high”, adding that the hotel is fully booked during a trial period.