The newest star of Berlin Zoo

[BonosBaby12]

He should be a bit careful how he is holding his right leg, as now he is a German polar bear

Leave it up to you to point that out

 

[JCOSTER]

I noticed that Bono has miraculously disappeared after the Echo award show.

Are you saying that Knut really isn't a polar bear, that it's Bono in a polar bear suit!

 

[shari schultz]

Too cute!

 

[last unicorn]

Are you saying that Knut really isn't a polar bear, that it's Bono in a polar bear suit!

They are basically of the same size, color and cuteness.

 

[JCOSTER]

 

[redhotswami]

What an adorable little guy! I really don't get the whole "kill him" stance. Anyone who wants to kill something that cute is heartless. And yes, I initially thought this was about Bono too.

 

[U2girl]

So Bono is white, furry, plays all day and needs to be fed?

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

The Annie Leibovitz VF photos. Leo is very cute too

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/05/knut_slideshow200705?slide=1

 

[JCOSTER]

They are both soooooo adorable.

 

[kellyahern]

The Annie Leibovitz VF photos. Leo is very cute too

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/05/knut_slideshow200705?slide=1

awww

 

[U2girl]

They reported today on German TV people stand in cues and wait up to 5 hours to see Knut.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I would wait even more than five hours

 

[mdw3935]

He is soooo cute.
I just want to play with him. At least while he is still young and so cute.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Reuters

Polar bear cub Knut receives death threat

By Madeline Chambers

Germany's celebrity polar bear cub Knut has received an anonymous death threat, causing alarm at Berlin Zoo Thursday and prompting heightened security.

"We were contacted by the zoo about a (threatening) letter it had received," said a police spokeswoman, adding officers had investigated but they did not believe it was serious.

Top-selling Bild newspaper said the zoo had received a hand-written fax from a suspected animal hater with the words: "Knut is dead! Thursday midday."

It also said the zoo had trebled the number of minders to 15 responsible for the safety of media star Knut, who has been on newspaper front pages and news shows across Germany and around the world for weeks.

"Death threat, police protection for Knut!" Bild wrote in bold letters on page one above a picture of the sad-looking polar bear cub peering out from behind a tree branch.

Bild also published a picture of a security guard in civilian clothes guarding Knut from behind a rock.

Thousands of fans, including many children, visit the zoo every day to see Knut on his twice daily excursions into an outside enclosure with his bearded keeper Thomas Doerflein.

The keeper has slept in Knut's cage, played with him and fed him porridge since the cub's mother rejected him at birth.

Knut, who now has his own brand, won global attention after questions were raised about hand-rearing polar bears. Some animal rights campaigners were interpreted calling for him to be put down rather than raised by humans.

The ordeal for the four-and-a-half-month old cub comes just three days after officials cut short his daily show due to a fever. Vets reassured a concerned public he was suffering from teething pains and his swollen cheek was nothing to worry about.

 

[JCOSTER]

I hope they can keep him safe.

 

[U2lunatic]

oh, how cute he is...
I think I'm gonna buy a plane ticket to Berlin only to see Knut

 

[Carmelu2fan]

He is a cutie lil bear. What happened to his mum?

 

[Vincent Vega]

^His mum refused him and his brother. His brother died.


His stepfather was found dead in his apartment today. He was sick before, but the definite cause of death is not known yet.

 

[last unicorn]

This is so sad, really.

I saw it on the news yesterday and they also showed a documentary about Knut's birth and how he was raised by his "surrogate father", which was very sweet and moving.

 

[mad1]

OMG! Cute factor of 110!

 

[cobl04]

Wasn't there a story not long back about how Knut being raised by humans had been detrimental?

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Polar Bears > Humans

 

[Vincent Vega]

The cause of death was a thrombose that led to a undersupply of the heart, thus causing a heart attack. It's also called Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), since it's happening within less seconds and can happen anytime to anybody.

 

[JCOSTER]

 

[cobl04]

The cause of death was a thrombose that led to a undersupply of the heart, thus causing a heart attack. It's also called Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), since it's happening within less seconds and can happen anytime to anybody.

Don't tell me that!

 

[Vincent Vega]

Yeah, this cause of death is all too familiar to me, too.

 

[zuropa_fit]

I haz a cute!!!!!!!

 

[last unicorn]

Yeah, this cause of death is all too familiar to me, too.

It's sad, 44 is no age.

 

[achtung_girl]

The cause of death was a thrombose that led to a undersupply of the heart, thus causing a heart attack. It's also called Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), since it's happening within less seconds and can happen anytime to anybody.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Now Knut passed away:

Berlin Zoo's celebrity polar bear Knut is dead. The zoo's bear expert, Heiner Klös told the German news agency DPA that the bear collapsed and died on Saturday while in the water in the zoo's polar bear enclosure.

Klös told DPA that between 600 and 700 visitors had witnessed Knut's death. The zoo's staff were shocked, he said.

The cause of death is currently unclear. According to Klös, the polar bear was alone in the compound at the time. The three other bears that shared his enclosure -- his mother Tosca and two other bears named Katyusha and Nancy -- had already been shut in. The zoo plans to perform an autopsy on Knut to clarify the cause of death.

"It's terrible," Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit told the Berlin newspaper BZ. "He had a special place in all of our hearts. He was the star of Berlin Zoo."

Knut, who recently turned four, became world famous when his mother rejected him shortly after his birth in December 2006. Part of his fame was due to the bear's close relationship to Thomas Dörflein, the photogenic zookeeper who became his replacement mother and hand-reared the cub. Dörflein died unexpectedly in September 2008 at the age of 44.

Tragedy in Berlin Zoo: Celebrity Polar Bear Knut Is Dead - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International