Polar Bear Cub Delights Fans In His Debut
Television crews and photographers jockeyed with hundreds of excited children at Berlin's Zoo on Friday, all eager to for a first glimpse of a fuzzy white polar bear cub who has captured hearts across the globe.
"We want Knut! We want Knut" chanted a group of third graders who pressed against the railing surrounding what is normally the brown bears' area, cleared for use by the polar cub because of its prominent position at the zoo.
At 15 weeks, and just over 20 pounds, the little cub is considered sturdy enough to begin to get used to the limelight, reports CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar.
But the big world is a scary place, even when seen from the safety of a bear enclosure, and Knut never strayed far from the keeper who has raised him since birth.
Sniffing and stumbling over the uneven, grassy ground, Knut delighted the crowds by clambering over a log and sniffing curiously at the legs of his handler, Thomas Doerflein.
"I'm so happy to be able to see him today," said Leila Klamann, 9, whose school class was visiting the zoo. "And he's so cute!"Photos: Knut The Polar Bear
The cub, born to the zoo on December 5, has already captured the hearts of Berliners through his own video podcast and TV series. Star photographer Annie Leibovitz also came to take his portrait for an environmental campaign.
Poking his nose and then his paws into a stream, the cub appeared interested in exploring his new environment Friday, but returned frequently to Doerflein, who has raised him by hand since his mother rejected him and his brother shortly after their birth. The other cub later died. Baby polar bears are very prone to infections.
The fate of the nearly 19-pound bear stirred a media flap when an animal activist insisted that the cub would have been better off dead than raised by humans; that as a wild animal, he was becoming too much of a pet. The zoo flatly rejected the idea.
"It is nonsense, and a violation of animal rights," zoo veterinarian Andreas Ochs told CBS News.
And animal rights groups, realizing they were on the losing side of a public relations battle, quickly endorsed the bear.
"Of course we should celebrate," said spokeswoman Eva-Marie Koenig. "Every bear that can be saved is ... good news."
Knut has thrived on a bottle fed diet of baby formula and cod liver oil, the first polar bear born in the Berlin zoo to live in more than30 years.
He'll stay in Berlin for another year or so, reports MacVicar, never mixing with the other polar bears there. They have rejected him once. To try to reacquaint them again would risk not just rejection, but death.
His future probably lies in another zoo, perhaps with another group of bears.
Meanwhile, the general public will be able to see Knut again over the weekend. He is scheduled to make brief appearances with his handler.