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Knut Mania Triggers Rift at Zoo

Polar bear's promoter leaves in dispute over marketing

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 13, 2007 4:30 PM CST

(Newser) – A savvy marketing campaign that turned cuddly Knut into the world's most famous polar bear has driven a wedge between his human handlers. The Berlin Zoo's finance director, the man who made Knut the poster bear for global warming and turned a tidy profit for the zoo in the process, has left on not-so-amicable terms after the zoo's director complained of the never-ending cult of Knut, the Times reports.

“We have 14,000 animals,” said the chief. “It has become a bit of a theater, a pandemonium." But Gerald Uhlich said he had "nothing to be ashamed of." The zoo "has gained a very positive image in Germany and across the world.” It certainly has: Knut has drawn 2 million visitors, and his accomplishments as a symbol for climate protection include sharing the cover of Vanity Fair with Leonardo DiCaprio.

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

Knut, the polar bear cub, has its first public appearance in the Berlin Zoo, in this March 23, 2007, file photo. Television crews and photographers jockeyed with hundreds of excited children at Berlin's... (Associated Press)

The finance director of the Berlin zoo, Gerald R. Uhlich, presents a polar bear sculpture made of porcelain by German porcelain manufacturer KPM in April at Berlin's Zoologischer Garten zoo. (CLEMENS... (Getty Images)

Polar bear Knut eats a salad leaf from his birthday cake on the occasion of his first birthday in the Berlin zoo on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. Berlin's famous polar bear Knut, who was rejected by his mother... (Associated Press)

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Knut Polar Bear celebrates his Birthday on December 5th. (itn (YouTube))

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Knut Mania Triggers Rift at Zoo