This Cute Video of a Polar Bear Cub Getting a Bath Tells a Sad Story

Every now and then, a video of a captive animal engaging in a “cute” activity goes viral and elicits widespread admiration … but for those who know about the cramped, constrained kind of life that animals so often lead in zoos or amusement parks, that initial “OMG, how cute!” reaction is inevitably tinged with sadness. This is certainly the case with a clip that was posted to Facebook, which shows a polar bear cub receiving his first bath in a zoo. No-one can deny that this sweet cub – just like many other newborn baby animals – is too adorable for words.

However, the reality is that polar bears were never meant to live in small zoo enclosures. In their natural Arctic habitat, these animals may travel thousands of miles each year, and can swim as far as 200 miles away from land. Cubs typically remain with their mothers for a period of two years. In zoos, polar bears are put on display as mere objects of human interest, and all of their natural instincts to hunt, seek out mates, and care for their young are repressed. Is it any wonder that some zoo polar bears have even been put on Prozac or other mood-altering drugs?

Sadly, wild polar bears’ habitual way of life is under threat because of human-created Climate change, but the solution to this is to work harder to save their icy habitats … not to confine them in zoos. To learn more about how you can help save polar bears, read the articles below. And if you would like to see cute polar bear cubs playing together in their natural environment, why not check out these six heart-melting videos?

• This Single Photo of a Polar Bear Will Show You WHY We Need to Stand Up for the Planet
• How Saving Our Rainforests Could Determine the Fate of the Polar Bear Species
• Could Your Hamburger be Killing Polar Bears?
• Instead of Ice, This Polar Bear Has Trash to Live On – How We Can All Act to Change This

Editor’s Note 2/2/2016: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified the location of this video to be in the Toronto Zoo; this has been amended.