Argentina zoo freezes polar bear move

Buenos Aires - Argentina's last captive polar bear will remain in the country despite a petition by hundreds of thousands of people asking that he be moved to Canada.

The director of the Mendoza Zoo in western Argentina told The Associated Press Tuesday that the 28-year-old bear will not be relocated.

Animal rights advocates say the bear named Arturo paces nervously in his concrete enclosure and suggest the animal suffers from depression. They have campaigned to move the bear to a zoo in Winnipeg, which has welcomed the idea.

But zoo director Gustavo Pronotto says Arturo only suffers the typical ailments of old age, which would make relocation too risky. He asks that fans of Arturo "stop bothering the bear".