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October 6, 2008 6:34:31 AM CDT

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Started by H Needles; Last updated Feb 15, 08 10:55 AM CST by D Lim | View history

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Knutomania

It's not easy being Knut, the celebrity polar bear

Following the public obsession with Knut, Berlin's celebrity polar bear, the Nuremberg Zoo has grappled with whether to let its orphan cubs die or intervene. Now the zoo has reversed its policy against hand-rearing cubs, after two were apparently eaten by their mother.

Stories

Stories 1 - 20 of 21

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  • September 2008

    • Knut's Surrogate Dad Dead at 44

      Der Spiegel  |  Sep 22, 08 3:09 PM CDT

      Knut's Surrogate Dad Dead at 44

      (Newser) - Thomas Dörflein, the Berlin zookeeper who raised polar bear Knut after his mother rejected him, was found dead in his apartment today, Der Spiegel reports. He was 44. Authorities said there was no evidence of foul play; Dörflein had been very sick. The keeper’s contact with Knut was cut off almost a year ago when the cub became too big to safely play with. More »

  • April 2008

    • Flocke Dives Into the Spotlight

      Der Spiegel  |  Apr 8, 08 2:39 PM CDT

      Flocke Dives Into the Spotlight

      (Newser) - The younger and cuter of Germany's celebrity polar bear cubs greeted her adoring public today at the Nuremberg Zoo, Der Spiegel reports. Flocke ("Snowflake") mostly ignored the hundreds of eager reporters waiting to beam her antics across the world, choosing instead to explore her outdoor enclosure and splash in her pool. The zoo is bracing for up to 25,000 visitors per day, starting tomorrow. More »

  • March 2008

    • Knut 'Doesn't Know He's a Polar Bear'

      Der Spiegel  |  Mar 25, 08 6:49 PM CDT

      Knut 'Doesn't Know He's a Polar Bear'

      (Newser) - Poor Knut: The celebrity polar bear, no longer the ball of fluff who captivated animal lovers around the world, is miserable without human contact and doesn't realize he isn't a person. "Knut must go. As soon as possible," a keeper at the Berlin Zoo said of the 300-pound 15-month-old , Der Spiegel reports. More »

    • Snowflake Almost Ready for Adoring Public

      Der Spiegel  |  Mar 14, 08 12:16 PM CDT

      Snowflake Almost Ready for Adoring Public

      (Newser) - Nuremberg’s favorite polar bear club is growing up fast and should be ready for her public debut by April, Der Spiegel reports. Little Snowflake has already passed through such coming-of-age rituals as her first bone, her first trip outdoors, and a much-needed first bath. Before the bath, Snowflake was apparently a decidedly smelly bear, keepers say. More »

    • Knut to Hit the Silver Screen

      Canadian Press  |  Mar 3, 08 6:30 AM CST

      Knut to Hit the Silver Screen

      (Newser) - Once celebrity polar bear Knut got big and his fluffy fur gained a yellowish-gray tint, public attention turned to younger, cuter bears. But now the spotlight is back on the Berlin Zoo's most famous orphan, with the premiere of a new documentary called Knut and Friends , the Canadian Press reports. More »

  • February 2008

    • Knut's Dad Wants a Piece of the Action

      Der Spiegel  |  Feb 15, 08 2:41 PM CST

      Knut's Dad Wants a Piece of the Action

      (Newser) - Knut, the polar bear superstar of the Berlin Zoo, has all the trappings of celebrity—fame, money, a Hollywood deal, and now, family members looking to cash in. The zoo that owns his dad, Lars, says it deserves some of the millions Knut has raked in, Der Spiegel reports. "We are currently looking into what claims we could have," said a spokesman for Neumunster Zoo. More »

  • January 2008

    • Zoo Braces for Snowflake Mania

      Der Spiegel  |  Jan 31, 08 3:21 PM CST

      Zoo Braces for Snowflake Mania

      (Newser) - Polar celebrity Snowflake will meet her adoring public as early as late March, and Nuremberg zoo staff predict a blizzard of attention surrounding its most popular bundle of fur. Annual visitors are expected to jump from 250,000 to 1.3 million, reports Der Spiegel , which has the city readying itself by speeding up public transportation to the zoo. More »

    • Cute, or Miserable and Crazy?

      Der Spiegel  |  Jan 15, 08 11:20 AM CST

      Cute, or Miserable and Crazy?

      (Newser) - The Nuremberg zoo's new polar bear cub, cute as she is, is highlighting the sometimes stark and brutal condition the animals face in captivity. Some biologists say the decision to bottle-feed the cub after her mother rejected her—as was done with superstar bear Knut—will only produce "a second psychopath," a bear dependent on humans and clueless about how to interact with her own species. More »

    • New Cub Could Out-Cute Knut

      Der Spiegel  |  Jan 14, 08 1:50 PM CST

      New Cub Could Out-Cute Knut

      (Newser) - There’s a new polar bear in Germany, and Knut had better watch his back, reports Der Spiegel , because the Nuremberg zoo’s 2.4-kilo baby bruin is drawing international attention for being so gosh darn cute. Fans have sent 15,000 name suggestions since Friday, but for now she’s called “Flocke,” German for "snowflake." More »

    • Burnout fears for new star of Knut circus

      Times (UK)  |  Jan 12, 08

      A fluffy star is born: a German polar bear cub is being prepared this weekend for a lifetime, or at least a year, in the limelight to replace the increasingly jowly and charmless Knut. The first step came yesterday when the bear keepers at Nuremberg Zoo dubbed the month-old bear %u201CFloske%u201D, German for Flake. %u201CThat%u2019s because she is snow-white and fragile,%u201D said Horst Maussner, one of a team of three that will try to keep the rejected cub alive. The omens are good %u2013 the cub is guzzling a special milk cocktail every three hours %u2013 but the zoo leadership says it...

    • New Cub a Web Sensation

      Associated Press  |  Jan 11, 08 7:45 PM CST

      New Cub a Web Sensation

      (Newser) - The Nuremberg zoo's cuddly new polar bear cub still doesn't have a name, but it does have a website—and a fast-growing legion of smitten fans. "We're getting 15 emails with name suggestions every minute," said a city spokesman. For the time being, zookeepers have dubbed the cub Flocke, German for flake, the AP reports. More »

    • Zoo Will Raise Polar Bear Cub After All

      Der Spiegel  |  Jan 9, 08 9:17 AM CST

      Zoo Will Raise Polar Bear Cub After All

      (Newser) - The Nuremberg Zoo has reversed its wildly unpopular policy against hand-rearing polar bear cubs, reports Der Speigel . The zoo took the remaining cub away from its mother yesterday after she appeared nervous and started walking around her enclosure with the tiny animal in her mouth. Two other cubs died and were apparently eaten by their mother earlier this week, after the zoo refused to intervene. More »

    • Zoo: Polar Bear Cubs Gone, Eaten by Mom

      Der Spiegel  |  Jan 8, 08 9:15 AM CST

      Zoo: Polar Bear Cubs Gone, Eaten by Mom

      (Newser) - Two polar bear cubs that captured Germany's attention have died, and the zoo thinks their mother ate them, Der Spiegel reports. The Nuremberg Zoo's decision not to interfere with the cubs' survival, despite reports that the mother might have been neglecting them, caused a storm of criticism, which is now likely to intensify. Zoo officials speculated that the cubs may have died from disease, saying in a statement, "We assume that Vilma took excellent care of her cubs until the end." More »

    • Knut's zoo saves new polar bear cub after outcry

      Reuters  |  Jan 8, 08

      BERLIN (Reuters Life!) - A zoo in southern Germany, under fire for letting a mother polar bear eat its five-week old cub, has bowed to media and public pressure and decided to hand rear its last surviving baby. The decision by Nuremberg Zoo heralds a second bout of Knut-mania as German television pounced on the news and ran repeated footage of the new cub.

    • Zoo Will Let Polar Cubs Die, Rather Than Raise by Hand

      Der Spiegel  |  Jan 6, 08 6:06 PM CST

      Zoo Will Let Polar Cubs Die, Rather Than Raise by Hand

      (Newser) - Officials at a Nuremburg zoo have vowed not to rescue the cubs of two polar bears who gave birth about a month ago, even though one is showing signs of disinterest in her offspring, leaving them to cry plaintively for long periods of time. Zoo officials say they don't want to replicate "Knutomania"—the public obsession with Berlin's celebrity polar bear orphan, reports Der Spiegel , and will let the cubs die rather than intervene. More »

    • Coming soon: Knut the Hollywood movie

      Guardian (UK)  |  Jan 1, 08

      It is yet to be seen whether he will get to press his paws into the concrete of Hollywood's Walk of Fame, but the top grossing polar bear of all time is about to sign a contract that will see him star in his own potential blockbuster. Knut, the polar bear who hit the headlines around the world after being rejected by his mother at birth just over a year ago, is now being eyed up for even greater stardom.

  • December 2007

    • Knut Mania Triggers Rift at Zoo

      Times (UK)  |  Dec 13, 07 4:30 PM CST

      Knut Mania Triggers Rift at Zoo

      (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. More »

  • August 2007