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.
An insane, militant, Leftist animal activist....which has come to define the 'animal rights' movement.
The people at our local zoo deal with these nutjobs all the time and their slogan is *Better dead than captive bred.* Shame that they can't see that the survival of some species depends on captive breeding. They must not love animals as much as they claim.
They seem to hate humanity as much as they claim that they love animals. The only scenario in which they will be happy is one in which all humans are wiped off the planet and only animals remain, living in their 'pristine environment'.
They seem to be much more about hating people than loving animals.
OK, moron, why don't YOU kill the bear and see how it goes. I'll bet he doesn't have what it takes to do the job himself.
That is one of the most outrageous statements I have ever heard. If hand feeding the cub to keep it alive is a gross violation of animal protection laws, then what is being killed by a human considered? Is that protecting them more? I thought protection meant KEEPING them from harm, not inflicting it. I think my head's going to explode. Liberals are truly insane.
I can see the new PETA bumper sticker:
"BETTER DEAD THAN FED"
you said: F. U. F. A.
Federation of Ugandan Football Associations?!?!?
They want the cub to die? Who are these nuts? Why don't they find legitimate work?
The "animal rights" wackos are not sane. They are part of a larger group which has justly earned the description of "mentally deranged".
algorejr., kerry, Barb wa wa, hillary, Bill C., McManic, Bloomberg, Mike Moore, Plame, wilson, Leahy, I could go on, GIVE DEATH A TRY!! It's the IN thing in Europe!!! Whee!!!
Well, if living "behind bars" - figuratively anyway - is worse than death, I'm sure all of these activists are pro-death penalty. Right?
Exactly...they would if they could shut down all zoos as well as circuses with animals, all animal testing, farms with animals, horse racing....etc etc. Oh they would outlaw pet ownership of any sort too. No stoats for you.
There's nothing new about that. It's been Peta's motto since the beginning.
That guys just po'd because all the women around him think the polar bear cub is much cuter and more cuddlier than he is.
The sad fact is that this is not fringe thinking.
This is mainstream utilitarian philosophy ala Peter Singer.
This philosophy rules hospital ethics boards.
I have a concern that the militant 'animal rights' hysterics will soon expand their jihad against humans to zoos, in that they will soon become bored with merely firebombing medical research labs and will be doing the same things to public zoos, probably at times when there is a maximum number of human guests at the facility. They will justify their actions in the same twisted ways that they do in this article and in the ways that they justify bombing the research labs.
No stoats for you
Every beautiful, Conservative lady should have a pet stoat :-)
(I say this as a single and proudly heterosexual male stoat)
That's exactly what I was going to write.
Then again, neither consistency nor logic have ever been the moonbats' forte.
I'm sure that's true, and I'm guessing that all of the 'women' around him look like Rosie O'Donnell.
Gotta correct you there. Most of the tame pet rodents have been domesticated inside the past 100 years or so. Hamsters, gerbils, truly tame and affectionate rats and mice...wild stock remains jumpy and unpredictable but domestic bred young ones are as tame and trusting as any newborn puppy or kitten.
I know that's not in the same category as a major predator or a beast of burden, but the fact remains...they're now fully domesticated.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I suppose a completely barren Earth, devoid of all life, would be the only thing that would even marginally meet their approval. But even with this they would still find fault with it and blame President Bush.
Who would want to kill a helpless cute little baby polar bear?
Someone who is at the very least clinically insane.
These people are sick to the depths of their twisted souls.
Although I normally hate to be uncharitable, and I am certainly not the final judge on such matters, such sentiments as enunciated by these idiots gives me pause to wonder if they have a soul.
"The "animal rights" wackos are not sane. They are part of a larger group which has justly earned the description of "mentally deranged"."Perhaps it's time to bring back the good old fashioned psychiatric ward.
In fact, I wonder if much of the insanity we've been seeing as of late mightn't stem from their closures (back in the Clinton days, I believe?)...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.