A three-year-old female polar bear, which gained worldwide fame as world's saddest bear, has been moved from the  Grandview Mall Aquarium in Guangzhou and sent to his original home in Ocean Park.

Officials of the Grandview Mall cited 'renovation work' as the reason for the relocation. Pizza - the official name of the bear - would return once the renovation work is completed.

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The mall posted on Chinese social media that it would "await Pizza's return."

Reports say the renovation is being done to make aquarium more habitable for Pizza.  The move is apparently in response to increasing protest by animal right activists, who claim that aquarium's artificial ambiance is making pizza increasingly weak.   

However, Peter Li, China policy specialist at Humane Society International expressed reservation over the move. "No amount of renovation could ever make a shopping mall a suitable place for this animal, and to send him back would be cruel and heartless," he said

Li claimed that the polar bear was suddenly shifted due to her deteriorating health and warned that her health would soon deteriorate to the extent that it would become difficult to display her to the public.  

However, he expressed joy that Pizza would at last get to enjoy the bliss of pure nature at his original habitat in Ocean Park.

The female polar bear created a global stir in July after a leading animal group based in Hong Kong posted a video on its official website showing Pizza lying sadly in the mall aquarium. Many leading publications including 'Time' magazine and 'The Telegraph' unanimously described Pizza as the 'world's saddest bear. '  

TagsPolar Bear China, polar bear, World's Saddest Polar Bear, Pizza China, china