Arturo, the last polar bear in Argentina, is not well. The sad animal paces back and forth in his enclosure at the Mendoza Zoo, swaying his head from side to side, bearing his teeth.

The polar bear is thought to have become depressed since the death of his long-term companion two years ago, which has left him lonely and bereft, the Sunday People reported.

Experts say his behaviour is “abnormal” and fear he is going insane, not least because the animal, which would be living on sea ice with general temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees, is living in hot temperatures that can climb to as high as 40 degrees.

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Protesters have been circulating online petitions for months in an attempt to have Arturo relocated to another zoo, with one campaign on Change.org clocking up nearly 25,000 signatures.

Shape Created with Sketch. Arturo: the depressed polar bear Show all 9 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Arturo: the depressed polar bear 1/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo Arturo (the Spanish name for Arthur) is thought to be depressed. Getty 2/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo Arturo is lonely since his long-term companion Palusa died two years ago, and he is the only polar bear in the zoo. Getty 3/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo Experts say the way Arturo swings his head and bares his teeth is "abnormal" and they fear he is going insane. Getty 4/9 The polar bear's natural habitat can get as cold as minus 40 degrees, but Arturo is living in a climate that can reach highs of 40 degrees in the heat. Getty 5/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo He only has a shallow, tepid pool to swim in. Getty 6/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Canada, has been trying to have Arturo transferred to its grounds, where he would live in better conditions and in a better climate. Getty 7/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo But Mendoza Zoo does not hold the necessary documents the Canadian authorities need in order to have Arturo transferred. Getty 8/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo He has been living in captivity at the zoo for 20 years. Getty 9/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo A recent assessment of Arturo concluded he is too old and his health too fragile to allow him to travel to a new home. Getty 1/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo Arturo (the Spanish name for Arthur) is thought to be depressed. Getty 2/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo Arturo is lonely since his long-term companion Palusa died two years ago, and he is the only polar bear in the zoo. Getty 3/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo Experts say the way Arturo swings his head and bares his teeth is "abnormal" and they fear he is going insane. Getty 4/9 The polar bear's natural habitat can get as cold as minus 40 degrees, but Arturo is living in a climate that can reach highs of 40 degrees in the heat. Getty 5/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo He only has a shallow, tepid pool to swim in. Getty 6/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Canada, has been trying to have Arturo transferred to its grounds, where he would live in better conditions and in a better climate. Getty 7/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo But Mendoza Zoo does not hold the necessary documents the Canadian authorities need in order to have Arturo transferred. Getty 8/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo He has been living in captivity at the zoo for 20 years. Getty 9/9 Arturo's home at Mendoza Zoo A recent assessment of Arturo concluded he is too old and his health too fragile to allow him to travel to a new home. Getty

The campaign calls on Arturo to be moved to Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Canada, where “a natural habitat and a better life is awaiting him”, and cites the case of Winner, the polar bear from Argentina’s Buenos Aires City Zoo, who was killed by the high temperatures in a heatwave that hit the city over Christmas in 2012.

It is not the first time protesters have tried to have the polar bear removed from his sweltering home.

For months, Maria Fernanda Arentsen, a professor at Université de Saint-Boniface, had been trying to get Arturo transferred to Winnipeg, but the move was ruled out after officials discovered Mendoza Zoo has not been keeping the right records for its animal.

In order to take an animal to Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency requires specific records dating back at least three years, which Mendoza Zoo is unable to provide.

But Arturo’s fate appears to be set: environmentalists were outraged when in February this year, experts deemed the 29-year-old Arturo too old and his health too fragile to let him be moved from the Argentinian zoo.

A member of the Ecologists United movement, Gabriel Flores, told Fox News Latino that “the evaluation they did was visual, without touching him, observing him from a distance”.

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“They only checked how he walks, how he eats, how he swims. It was a halfway fake evaluation that doesn’t convince us at all,” he said.