Knut (polar bear)

Knut
Knut during his public unveiling at the Berlin Zoo on 24 March 2007.
Born	5 December 2006 (10 months) Berlin, Germany
Parent(s)	Tosca (mother) Lars (father)

Knut () (born at the Zoologischer Garten Berlin on 5 December 2006) is a captive-born polar bear who was rejected by his mother at birth and therefore raised by zoo keepers. The first polar bear cub to survive past infancy at the Berlin Zoo for over thirty years, he became a popular tourist attraction and commercial success as well as the subject of international controversy. After the German tabloid magazine Bild ran a quote from an animal rights activist that seemingly called for the death of the young cub, a public outrage was caused worldwide as fans rallied in support of his being hand raised by humans.

Knut became the genesis of a mass media phenomenon dubbed "Knutmania," which spawned numerous toys, media specials, DVDs, and books. Because of this, the polar bear was largely responsible for a significant increase in financial success of the Berlin Zoo.

Biography

Knut was born at the Berlin Zoo to 20 year-old polar bear Tosca, a former circus performer from east Germany who was born in Canada, and her 13-year-old mate Lars, who was originally from the Tierpark Hellabrunn in Munich. After the unproblematic gestation time, Knut and his unnamed brother were born on 5 December, 2006. Tosca rejected her cubs for unknown reasons, abandoning them on a rock in the polar bear compound. Zoo keepers rescued the cubs by scooping them out of the enclosure with an extended fishing net, but Knut's brother died of an infection four days later. Knut was the first polar bear to have been born and survive in the Berlin Zoo for over thirty years. Being the size of a guinea pig, he spent the first 44 days of his life in an incubator before zoo keeper Thomas Dörflein began handraising the cub. Knut's need for around-the-clock care required that Dörflein sleep on a mattress next to Knut's night enclosure as well as play with, bathe, and feed him, beginning with a bottle of milk every two hours before graduating at the age of four months to a milk porridge mixed with cat food, vitamins and cod liver. Dörflein also accompanied Knut on his twice daily shows for the public and has appeared in many videos and photographs alongside the cub. As a result, Dörflein has become a minor celebrity in Germany.

Knut and Thomas Dörflein on May 1, 2007.

On 23 March 2007, Knut was presented to the public for the first time. Around 400 journalists visited Berlin Zoo on what was dubbed "Knut Day" to report on the cub's first public appearance to a worldwide audience. Because Knut has been the focus of worldwide media since a very young age, many stories and false alarms regarding the cub's health and wellbeing have circulated. For example, on April 16, 2007, Knut was removed from display due to teething pains resulting from the growth of his right upper canine tooth, but initial reports vaguely stated that he was suffering from an unknown illness and subsequently put on antibiotics. Much ado was also made about a death threat that was sent shortly before 15:00 local time on Wednesday April 18, 2007. The zoo had received an anonymous letter by fax which said "Knut ist tot! Donnerstag Mittag." ("Knut is dead! Thursday noon") In response, the police increased their security measures around the bear. The timeframe for the threat passed without incident or harm to Knut.

Despite Der Spiegel reporting on April 30, 2007 that Knut was "steadily getting less cute" as he increased in age, Knut continued to bring in record crowds to the zoo. After reaching seven months old and 110 lbs in July of 2007, Knut's scheduled twice daily public appearances were canceled due to the zoo's concern of the safety of his keeper. Zoo spokeswoman Regine Damm also said it was time for the bear to "associate with other bears and not with other people." He was then moved to his own enclosure. While visitor numbers have reportedly dwindled from extreme highs in March and April, Knut remains a major attraction at the zoo. There were 400,000 guests recorded in August of 2007, which was an all time high.

Into the fall of 2007, news of Knut and his life at the zoo was still being heavily reported internationally. The news of Knut's diet being restricted due to recent weight gain that is normally necessary for bears nearing hibernation became a popular headline. His daily meals were reduced in number from four to three, and treats, such as croissants, which are favored by the young polar bear, were restricted. After hurting his foot while slipping on a wet rock in his enclosure a month later in September, there was an outpouring of concern and support from fans worldwide.

Knut's future role at the Zoo may include him becoming an "attractive stud" for other zoos in order to help preserve his species.

Controversy

In March of 2007, German tabloid Bild carried a quote by an animal rights activist named Frank Albrecht that said that Knut should have been killed rather than brought up suffering the humiliation of being treated as a domestic pet, thus declaring the zoo was violating animal protection legislation by keeping him alive. Wolfram Graf-Rudolf, head of the Aachen Zoo, stated that "One should have had the courage to let the bear die" after it was rejected, arguing that the bear will "die a little" every time it is separated from its caretaker. The Berlin Zoo rallied in support of the baby polar bear, vowing not to harm him.

Albrecht, who was not associated with any animal rights organization, later claimed that he was quoted out of context: According to Albrecht, he had filed suit against the head of the Leipzig Zoo in December 2006, for killing a Sloth Bear cub rejected by its mother. The case was dismissed by the courts arguing that raising the animal by humans would have been inappropriate. Albrecht, who opposed that judgment, says he called for Knut's death not because he actually wanted to have the bear killed, but merely to call attention to the Leipzig decision, which would have granted the Berlin Zoo the right to kill the polar bear cub.

Most international media, however, relied on the Bild-Zeitung's version and reported Albrecht's request to have Knut killed out of context. The publicity from this coverage raised Knut's profile from national to international.

Commercial success

File:Knut polar bear cub german vanity fair.jpg

Knut on the cover of Germany's Vanity Fair.

The Berlin Zoo registered Knut as a trademark in late March 2007. As a result its shares at the Berlin Stock Exchange, which are normally worth around 2000 euros, more than doubled in value closing at 4820 euros just a week later.

Various companies have profited off of the attention surrounding Knut by developing themed products such as ringtones and cuddly toys. Candy company Haribo released a raspberry-flavored gummy bear sweet called Cuddly Knut beginning in April of 2007. They pledged to donate ten euro cents to the zoo for every tub of Knut sweets it sold. The gummy bears sold so well that the Bonn based company had to expand production to a second factory to deal with demands. Knut was also the subject of several songs, the most successful of which were the singles "Knut is Cute" and "Knut, der kleine Eisbär" (English: “Knut, the little polar bear”) by 9-year-old Kitty from Köpenick. A blog with updates about the polar bear is also maintained by a journalist at the regional public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg; it is available in German, English and Spanish. Knut has also been the subject of several DVDs, including one entitled "Knut - Stories from a Polar Bear's Nursery." He also appeared on the March 29, 2007 cover of the German Vanity Fair magazine.

On May 1, 2007 it was announced that New York-based Turtle Pond Publications and the Berlin Zoo signed a deal for the publishing rights to Knut with the hopes of raising awareness of global warming issues. Written by Craig Hatkoff and his daughters Juliana and Isabella, the 44-page book entitled "Knut, der kleine Eisbaerenjunge" ("Little Polar Bear Knut") includes Knut's life story as well as previously unpublished photographs. Although several books about Knut have already been published in Germany, this is the first book to be authorized by the Berlin Zoo. The book was published in Germany on 2007-07-26 and American publishing company Scholastic will release the book, entitled "Knut: How one little polar bear captivated the world" in the United States, later in 2007. Rights to the book have also been sold to publishers in Japan, England, Mexico, China and Italy.

Environmental causes

Dr. Gerald Uhlich, of the Berlin zoo's board of trustees, stated that because of his vast popularity, Knut has become a means of communication and that he has the ability to "draw attention to the environment in a nice way. Not in a threatening, scolding way." As a result, the German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel officially adopted Knut as the mascot for a conference on endangered species to be held in Bonn in 2008. The minister met with Knut soon after his zoo debut, commenting that although Knut was in safe hands, "worldwide polar bears are in danger and if Knut can help the cause, then that is a good thing."

Photographer Annie Leibovitz took pictures of Knut that were used for an environmental campaign, including Vanity Fair's May 2007 Green Issue in which he was superimposed into a photograph with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

External links

• Official homepage of the Zoologischer Garten Berlin
• Knut media centre at Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, with video and picture footage