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.
His comment equating the polar bear with teen pregnancy shows quite alot about his mental viewpoint on both.
Obviously he thinks murdering humans is okay.
He also thinks that Knut should be killed ‘just because’.
““Well, he’s here, let’s start taking care of him”....sounds like an unplanned teen pregnancy.”
Funny, you claim to be a conservative.
I say you are a liar.
Its posts were from 2007, and the only two it ever made.
Hit and run poster, or a suicide run by a DUer.
Poor baby. Even eisbars need love.
Yep, you're right and I missed it. These were posted before I even got here, or was just lurking probably. Duh.
How did we get onto this thread? It never occured to me it was 4 years old...
Ahh... that explains it. Thank you.
Indeed they do, especially from a man on whom they are imprinted.
I didn’t know that you spoke German.
Well, many of your finer nudie films come from Germany...uh, never mind.
*snort* Dude! You dawg.
[giggles]
[controls self]
Okay, I’ll never mind.
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