GERMANY: Berlin Zoo's celebrity Polar bear Knut turns six months old - and is growing up fast

Record ID: 1547670

  • Title: GERMANY: Berlin Zoo's celebrity Polar bear Knut turns six months old - and is growing up fast
  • Date: 9th June 2007
  • Summary: KNUT SUCKLING KEEPER'S HAND
  • Embargoed: 24th June 2007 18:18
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Nature / Environment,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA4ABVGD0796GD2LLXOP10HNHOK
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Berlin's celebrity polar bear Knut was six months old on Tuesday and still is drawing in the visitors.
    Knut, Berlin Zoo's celebrity polar bear cub, is growing from a cuddly ball of fur into a shaggy, powerful predator who could soon pose a serious threat to his devoted human keeper who has nursed him from birth.
    The cub, which still draws some 5,000 fans every day, turned six months on Tuesday (June 05) and his 28 kg (62 pounds) are starting to show. His snout is longer, his torso chunkier and teeth sharper.
    "To us, it is just a normal day, although Knut is likely to get more croissants than the days before" Berlin Zoo's bear curator Heiner Kloes told Reuters. "To him it is special because last night, for the first time he spent in a new enclosure and he did very well. This shows us he is growing into a very self-confident bear."
    Thomas Doerflein, who for months slept in Knut's enclosure to feed him milk and porridge through the night, still rolls on the ground with the cub in his twice daily shows and lets him bite his fingers.
    But he has taken to pulling his long sleeves over his hands to protect them. Admirers watch Doerflein duck and shoulder away Knut when he gets boisterous.
    Kloes told Reuters: "He is still suckling Mr. Doerflein's hands, but he also has taken to suckling other peoples'. He will also nibble the hand a bit but it still is playful. Who is into puppies knows that that will be okay for quite a while, even if the teeth get sharper, they still need the scuffling for growing up healthy. We expect the contact between the two to remain like this until October, at least."
    In addition to porridge, the young star now tucks into fish, meat and cat food and is putting on around 200 grams a day. Last week, he learned how to swim and Doerflein takes Knut for a walk round the Zoo every morning to build up his muscles. His coat is no longer white and fluffy, but yellow and shaggy.
    Knut was rejected by his mother, Tosca, and hit the headlines after an animal rights campaigner said hand-rearing polar bears violated animal rights. German media interpreted the comments as a call for Knut to be put down. Since then, Knut has become a brand. He has his own song, DVD and book deal and features in a range of merchandise from soft toys and T-shirts to sweets.
    Doerflein thinks he will be able to play with Knut until he is about a year-old, by which time the cub will be 60-80 kg, compared to about 500 kg when he is fully grown.
    The keepers say the cub regards Doerflein as his mother and is therefore unlikely to attack him, but some experts fear he could get dangerous sooner and point to worrying precedents. In the 1920s, a Norwegian explorer had to put down "Marie", a polar bear cub he had reared, after she attacked him. Historians put the cub's age at only four months, although some experts suspect she might have been older.
    The zoo also rejects comparisons with Bokito, a gorilla raised in Berlin who burst out of his enclosure in Rotterdam Zoo last month and went on a rampage.
    The zoo will consider moving Knut elsewhere after he is a year old. Several other zoos are keen to take on Knut to breed.
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