Jezebel: knut the polar bear

Making A Buck Off Knut

Margaret — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:45:00 EST

The son of the late German zookeeper who cared for Knut the polar bear is selling his father's possessions on eBay.

Thomas Doerflein, who worked at the Berlin Zoo and was known as the famous cub's surrogate father, died at 44 of a heart attack in September. The sale of his belongings has brought in 7,000 euros ($9,748) so far, and includes the sleeping bag Doerflein used while caring for Knut round the clock and his 10-year-old car. Doerflein's former fiance condemned the sale as "tasteless." His 18-year-old son reportedly needed money to buy his father's tombstone and care for his grave. [Reuters]

Knut The Polar Bear Falls Victim to Child Star Syndrome

Margaret — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:20:00 EST

Two years ago the adorable polar bear cub Knut was an international star, photographed by Annie Leibovitz and featured on the cover of Vanity Fair with Leonardo DiCaprio. Today Good Morning America took a look at where the former child star is now, and found that the adult Knut weighs in at 500 lbs, is surly, disheveled, and just looking to find a mate. Which is why the Berlin Zoo is trying to sell him. Clip above.

The Cute Polar Bear Cub Must Die

eurotrash — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:32:14 EDT

Meet Knut:

Knut is a darling little polar bear cub born in a zoo in Berlin, Germany, last December, who was rejected by his mother. We all know how that feels, right?

Anyway, zoo staff kept him alive by bottle feeding him and cuddling him and probably talking to him in that stupid voice that women over 30 who are unmarried use exclusively for their cats. So far so good, huh?

Oh dear. Those gloomy German animal rights activists disagree. They'd like to kill Knut now, because he should never have survived in the first place, so he ought to be dead, so he ought to be killed.

""The zoo must kill the bear," said spokesman Frank Albrecht. "Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws."

We can't help but note that killing an animal may also be a gross violation of animal protection laws, but we aren't tofu-munching vegan wicca adherents, so what do we know.

BONUS: A year's free subscription to Peta, to the first person to mention Nazis.

We Want This Baby Polar Bear Dead [Daily Mail]