When Knut was born last December his mother ignored him, zoo officials intervened and chose to raise him themselves
Posted on 03/19/2007 12:08:29 PM PDT by Stoat
The Berlin Zoo's abandoned polar bear cub Knut looks cute, cuddly and has become a front-page media darling, but animal rights activists insisted he would be better off dead than raised by humans.
When Knut was born last December his mother ignored him, zoo officials intervened and chose to raise him themselves
"Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws," animal rights activist Frank Albrecht told the mass-circulation Bild, which has featured regular full-color photo spreads tracking fuzzy Knut's frolicking. "The zoo must kill the bear."
When Knut - or "Cute Knut," as the 8.7 kilogram (19 pound) bear has become known - was born last December, his mother ignored him and his brother, who later died. Zoo officials intervened, choosing to raise the cub themselves.
Activists argue that it is inappropriate for a predator, known for its fierceness and ability to fend for itself in the wild, to be snuggled
But Albrecht and other activists fret that it is inappropriate for a predator, known for its fierceness and ability to fend for itself in the wild, to be snuggled, bottle-fed and made a poster child by zookeepers - and even star-photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The activists argue that current treatment of the cub is inhumane and could lead to future difficulties interacting with fellow polar bears.
"They cannot domesticate a wild animal," Ruediger Schmiedel, head of the Foundation for Bears, told Der Spiegel weekly in its Monday edition.
They cite a similar case of a baby sloth bear that was abandoned by its mother last December in the Leipzig city zoo and killed by lethal injection, rather than being kept alive by humans.
But he is the Berlin Zoo's bear and their veterinarian Andre Schuele, charged with caring for Knut, disagrees.
"These criticisms make me angry, but you can't take them so seriously," Andre Schuele said.
"Polar bears live alone in the wild; I see no logical reason why this bear should be killed."
Schuele also argued that given the increased rarity of polar bears in the wild, it makes sense to keep them alive in captivity so that they can be bred.
"Polar bears are under threat of extinction, and if we feed the bear with a bottle, it has a good chance of growing up and perhaps becoming attractive as a stud for other zoos," Schuele said.
Knut, who recently posed for a photo shoot with Leibovitz for an environmental protection campaign, is scheduled to make his public debut at the zoo later this week or early next week, according to Schuele.
Until then, Germans can follow the bear's progress in a vast photo spread and videos of Knut drinking from his bottle, bathing and playing with teddy bears and soccer balls, all available on the zoo's Web site.
Klondike and Snow were hand-raised in Denver, Colorado, where they had hundreds, maybe thousands of fans. They are now in the Arctic exhibit in Sea World in Orlando, Florida and are just fine, thanks.
Irrational argument. The cub is there. Whether it should be is not the issue.
The cub exists, in the zoo, where it is being lovingly cared for by two-footed polar bears with pants. What do you suggest now?
Better dead than raised in captivity?? If the mother had not rejected it, the baby would still have been raised in captivity, since it parents are in ...a ...zoo, n'est-ce pas?
As for Franks assertion that "wild predators should not be snuggled and bottle fed" -- what's his big plan to stop mother bears from snuggling and nursing their babies?
Surly this fringe wacko group trying to justify killing things and infants must be with the pro-war, pro-hunt-for-fun right.
knut is a helpless polar bear. why kill him? he was abandoned...so what?i believe this zoo is helping knut. if u guys can give me five GOOD reasons why knut should be killed, then ill agree with you.
sure...i dont know who varda is but WHY DID U HAVE TO GO KILL A POOR BABY SLOTH???? its not like there was anything wrong with it! animals have a RIGHT TO LIVE!
I just did a search and saw that I created a little “stir.” I am amazed how some people (not you) attacked me using points attributed that I never even made. I didn’t agree with them 100%, so they were allowed to make up a profile about me that isn’t even close to accurate. Strange and childish. Anyhow......
I think they should try to care for “Gnute” since he is already in captivity. I just know first-hand how problems exist even in the best zoos in the world (I worked at one). If there is any financial or staffing probem, the animals suffer. I don’t think people realize how big of a task it is caring for a polar bear in captivity. More frequently than any other problem, leaders make bad decisions, like they did at this German zoo shortly after this story made the headlines.
Shortly after Gnute was put on display, the leaders there packed people into the facility to make as much money as possible. A Panda dropped dead from the stress of the large crowds. Pandas are very sensitive animals, and this zoo let one die to make as much money as possible from Gnute before he grows up and gets “ugly.” Ironically, pandas are a LOT more popular than any adult polar bear.
The zoo has every right to do whatever they want with animals they captured or purchased (I don’t believe in “animal rights” and don’t appreciate people labeling me without even reading my posts), but if they have the right after demonstrating that they do not have the expertise to care properly for large wild animals, so should anyone else. Then, once you have private zoos getting into the act you wind up with government-subsidized facilities to care for abandoned animals that failed to make a profit. Do you guys just cover your eyes or look away when you see the rare headline about “rescued animal” facilities? I would rather have the larger animals stay in the wild and my tax money stay in my pocket. I was trying to look beyond a few feet in front of me. “Well, he’s here, let’s start taking care of him”....sounds like an unplanned teen pregnancy.
I would not kill an animal like a bear in the wild, but if someone does it for food or fun I would not seek any government solution. I just know that this zoo does not look equipped to care properly for even one polar bear, let alone three. The death of the Panda proves I am right (to whoever posted “prove it.”). Killing an animal in the wild is better than caging one and mistreating it for years. Protecting them in the wild by preserving and restocking habitats would be the best solution; perhaps even using cloning. However, I would never put certain wild animals - cloned or not - in an inadequately tiny cage or pool. That is just cruel. Now I’ll leave again so your “regulars” can blame the Panda’s death on “activist liberals” that don’t even exist.
No need to attempt countering anything with lack of common sense or even worse, denial (i.e. I don’t want to know the truth if it is ugly!).
Common sense...
Polar bears must have sea ice to thrive. The ice is leaving at an alarming rate...the bears will follow the inevitable ending of this scenario without help. That problem is on top of the fact that we, as a species, seem to think we are ‘entitled’ and show no respect to, or for, the rest of God’s incredible creatures. We (mankind) have taken the great gift handed to us (earth and all of her children) and abused it when it should have been nurtured.
Kill the baby bear? Mmmm…I wonder who would have survived, back in the day, when obviously imperfect HUMAN children were left out to the elements to die.
Animal rights activists had their place at one time…they have obviously lost their way. An activist should be trying to SAVE the animals…not find lame reasons to destroy animals that are obviously love and cared for. There are even cases where wild animals have saved human children. Hmmm, I wonder if the animals caught flack from their peers for that?
Berlin zoo Knut, the beloved polar bear, is dead Mail Online
Knut, the world-famous polar bear, has died.
The bear who rose to stardom when he was hand-raised by zoo keepers after being rejected by his mother at birth collapsed in front of 600 visitors to Berlin Zoo this afternoon.
Bear keeper Heiner Kloes from the zoo said the four-year-old was alone in his compound. He says the cause is not yet clear.
'He was by himself in his compound, he was in the water, and then he was dead,' said Mr Kloes. ' He was not sick, we don't know why he died.'
(excerpt; more at link)
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I wonder if the PETA psychopaths will be celebrating?
Knut, RIP.
very sad.
The guy who raised him at the zoo suddenly died also, from cancer.
RIP.
RIP.
You almost have to wonder if the PETA psychopaths poisoned him.
OMG what an awful thought, but not so farfetched given PETA’s reputation for unhinged lunacy. Hopefully the cause of death will be uncovered in the days to come and such questions can be answered.
Animal rights groups have not been known as models of integrity in dealing with animals.
"But tragedy struck again before Knut's second birthday in 2008, when Mr Dorflein died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 44."
RIP, Knut and Thomas, together again.
These are the same people who wanted coyote in New York to ‘control the deer population’, who oppose hunting bear in New Jersey so that the resulting overpopulation of blackbear painfully starve to death, and oppose hunting deer because ‘Bambi was cute’.
I suppose this sort of mental illness is to be expected when a society becomes so advanced that it allows people to be removed entirely, for generations, from the dynamic forces of nature. If a person wants to, they can live in a city apartment forever, eating tofu and sprouts from the neighborhood vegan deli, be continually mind-numbed by leftist TV programming and make a living by being an animal rights activist. Reality is irrelevant for them because they are able to remove themselves from it and then pontificate about their supposed virtue.
In times past, they would have been either shamed into reality-based thinkng or laughed out of town and subsequently starved to death. With our advanced society, they are able to exst - and thrive - in an entirely ideologically-manufactured world.
Unfortunately, many people who should know better listen to them.
Many of them do not understand that life is brutally unfair.
That’s why when they go out and get mauled by bobcats, mountainlions, and bear they describe it as a ‘spiritual expeience’ rather than “wish I’d shot that rotten animal”.
That is, if they life through it.
They do not understand that animals eat other animals.
And sometimes them as well.
Interesting that your first two posts on FR ever are troll posts.
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What else would you suggest?
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