Public goes nuts for Knut the polar bear cub

[133724]

Knut, the polar bear cub at the centre of an animal rights row, was greeted by hoards of school children yesterday as he made his public debut at the Berlin Zoo yesterday.

The three-and-a-half-month old white bundle of fur appeared to lap up the attention as he padded around his new enclosure, entertaining onlookers by splashing in a pond and rolling in the dust.

The 19lb bear was accompanied by his handler Thomas Doerflein, who hand-reared the cub after he was rejected by his mother at birth.

Knut grabbed global attention after animal rights campaigners said hand-rearing was inappropriate for polar bears and that it would be less cruel in the long run to put him to sleep. But the German zoo has vowed to keep him alive and have given him his own video podcast so fans across the world can follow his progress




http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/24/wknut24.xml

[Swamp Rat]

1. aww!!!

:loveya:

[blogslut]

2. I went a little KNUTs last night

Yahoo's got a bunch of KNUT pics here:

http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=Knut&c=news_photos

[jpak]

3. more pix here...

http://www.weatherplus.com/slideshow/weathernews/11346525/detail.html?qs=

[BlueIris]

16. Awwww. Attack of cuteness, twelve o'clock.

Precious.

[Solly Mack]

4. Berlin Zoo here I come

[Maraya1969]

5. Knut videos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZLKb_5S21E&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys7iaMJLDsU&NR

[OnyxCollie]

6. Even Stephen Colbert had difficulty maintaining his "mini Threat Down" when he saw Knut.

[UnseenUndergrad]

7. So let me get this straight...

"Animal rights activists" would prefer that they put down an otherwise healthy cub from a species that is in decline from human stupidity rather than hand-rear it?

WHY would that be perferable?

Likle many things, there seems to be a fine line between compassion and stupidity... I think they just crossed it.

[oblivious]

8. Actually, it turned out to be only one 'activist' and he later changed his mind.

I don't think anyone was able to find which organisation this 'activist' worked for, if any.

[UnseenUndergrad]

10. I could have seen some credence to their argument

if the cub had been female, and could have cause yet more future cub rejections. But seeing that Knut is male, and that male Polar Bears are very little more than sperm donars, I don't see any problem.

[cmkramer]

Isn't this what most zoos do with orphaned or abandoned baby animals?

Animal Planet does these shows all the time about people taking care of wild baby animals. They're not intended to be pets.

[Maraya1969]

9. These are better videos. You can hear the little guy scream!!

http://www.rbb-online.de/_/fernsehen/index_jsp/key=5484524.html

I clicked on the on where he has a red blanket on his head. Sooooo cute.

[Clark2008]

11. Well, he IS adorable.

Look at him. Awwwwww.



Of course, he'll grow up and be as big as a house - but he's a sweet, adorable thing right now.

:loveya:

[AnneD]

13. Who can resist

a marshmallow snoball. That's how I came to own my Westie.

[Cooley Hurd]

12. OMG! He was kidnapped by Fidel Castro!

Gute del oso!

[CatWoman]

17. ELIAN-N-N-N!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBGS55IEVwM

[Cooley Hurd]

24. "Think of the booooooooooooy!"

:D

[MoonRiver]

14. So precious!

I'm an animal rights proponent, but no way should that baby have been euthanized. He's probably better off now than he would have been in the melting North Pole.

[NYCGirl]

15. Who wouldn't fall in love with little Knut? Annie Leibovitz has already photographed

him for an environmental campaign, and the German Environment Minister has drafted Knut to help the cause (and he just might be a wonderful spokesbear!):

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-03/24/content_835702.htm

Knut has also drawn attention to the plight of polar bears as worries grow that global warming is contributing to the melting of their habitat.

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has adopted Knut and used his appearance to further the debate on climate change.

"Knut is in safe hands here but worldwide polar bears are in danger and if Knut can help the cause, then that is a good thing," said the minister as he accompanied Knut on his walk and tickled his chin for the cameras.

[phusion]

18. Kinda like Smokey the Bear.. :) n/t

[kineneb]

19. more stills at Der Spiegel, English site

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,473551,00.html


more cuteness

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,830852,00.jpg

maybe Knut will become the symbol to make people aware of climate change...

[Patsy Stone]

21. Please...

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,831083,00.jpg

How cute is this damn bear???

[City Lights]

20. He is absolutely adorable!

:loveya: him!

[karlrschneider]

22. Awwwwwwww

:D

If his ears were just a little more pointy, he'd look just like my doggie did at 6 months. :-)

What a sweet little guy.

[Raine]

23. Awwwwwww

he's just ADORABLE, I want to hug him. :loveya:

[riverdeep]

25. Cute Overload

This little guy made the website Cute Overload. If you can't get enough cuteness. Scroll down a bit. BTW, that name is not just a description, it's also a warning...

http://cuteoverload.com/