These heartbreaking photos of a sad polar bear pushed 200,000 people into action.

This is Arturo. People are calling him the world’s most depressed polar bear.

Arturo lives in a tiny enclosure at a zoo in Argentina, where temperatures can reach 40 degrees. Polar bears generally live in climates minus 40 degrees. The pool of water provided for him is not even a metre deep.

He is 29 years old, and has been living in these awful conditions for 20 years.

Two years ago, after the death of his companion Pelusa, Arturo became mentally unwell and many believe he is severely depressed. He has been rocking from side to side, bearing his teeth and constantly collapsing into a heap with no will to get up.

This is Arturo’s enclosure:

There is a campaign to have Arturo moved to Canada, where there is a new International Polar Bear Conservation Centre. But the zoo is refusing to let Arturo go, claiming that he would not survive the two-day trip. Others are saying that concern for his wellbeing has nothing to do with it, since Arturo is the zoo’s 400-kilo main attraction.

But who wants to see a polar bear who is quite clearly distressed?

The hashtag #SaveArturo is trending on Twitter, and a Facebook page called Save Polar Bear Arthur (his English name) is right here.

The Greenpeace petition campaigning for Arturo’s relocation has over 200,000 signatures. You can sign it by clicking here.