Celeb Bunny Meets Untimely Demise

Earless German rabbit stepped on by cameraman
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 15, 2012 2:18 PM CDT
Updated Mar 18, 2012 11:33 AM CDT
Celeb Bunny Meets Untimely Demise
In this photo taken Wednesday, March 14, 2012, the two-week old earless bunny sits on the hands of a keeper at the zoo in Limbach-Oberfrohna, eastern Germany.   (Uwe Meinhold)

An earless baby bunny that was a rising star on Germany's celebrity animal scene had his 15 minutes of fame brought to an abrupt end when he was accidentally stepped on by a television cameraman. The fate of 17-day-old Til, a bunny with a genetic defect, was plastered across German newspapers last week, on the same day a small zoo in Saxony was to have presented him to the world at a press conference.

The cameraman told Bild newspaper he hadn't seen Til, who had buried himself in hay, when he took the fateful step backward. Zoo director Uwe Dempewolf tells Spiegel magazine Til didn't suffer: "It was a direct hit." Germany has been home to several global animal celebrities in recent years, including polar bear Knut and Paul the prognosticating octopus. (More rabbits stories.)

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