Knut - the polar bear born at Berlin zoo

The shaggy nine-month-old cub, now weighing in at 80 kilograms, made a pitiful sight on Monday, limping around his enclosure in the drizzle and dragging his right back paw.

But keeper Thomas Dörflein, who reared Knut around the clock for months after he was born, was having none of it. "He's a little play-actor -- just like all young bears who were hand-reared," he told tabloid daily Bild. "He just wants attention and he quickly noticed that he could get it with his limping act."

Dörflein said he had spotted Knut trotting around quite normally the previous morning when he thought he wasn't being watched.

AP: BERLIN - Celebrity polar bear Knut — who won the hearts of millions around the globe as a roly-poly orphan cub — celebrated his first birthday Wednesday with a cake made from 300 eggs and 20 pounds of marzipan.
The Berlin Zoo pulled out all the stops to fete its star attraction, who has gone from a fluffy white powderpuff of a cub to a full-grown polar bear with a cheeky curiosity and a penchant for muddying his coat by rolling in the dirt.
His giant birthday cake was made from 300 eggs, more than 30 pounds each of flour and sugar, and 22 pounds of marzipan. Children were given free entry to the zoo to help celebrate Knut's birthday, and proceeds from sales of slices of the cake will go toward the zoo's foundation, officials said.

Hollywood beckons for Knut, the polar bear cub who shot to fame in 2007. He is to star in an animated Hollywood movie by the maker of the Garfield films in a deal that could net Berlin Zoo €3.5 million.

NUREMBERG, Germany - The Berlin zoo's polar bear, Knut — who garnered worldwide fame by being hand-raised by his keepers from a pint-sized fluffball to adulthood — now has company.
The Nuremberg zoo announced Tuesday that it would also begin bottle-feeding a newborn polar bear cub, which was taken away from its mother over fears she might harm it.
"The safety of the young animal is the first priority," said deputy zoo director Helmut Maegdefrau.
The zoo made the decision to remove the cub from its mother, Vera, after another polar bear at the zoo apparently ate her two newborn cubs.
Though Vera has not tried to harm her own cub so far, it was taken away from her Tuesday afternoon when she carried it out of her cave and appeared to try and hide it elsewhere in the polar bear compound, Maegdefrau said.

It's too late, she's already a grown-up bear (Vera is the mother).

BERLIN - It's a girl! Maybe. Zoo officials in Nuremberg announced Wednesday that Germany's new polar bear cub is probably a female.
The cub's eyes are not yet open and its sexual organs not completely developed, so there's still a chance she could be a he, the Nuremberg zoo's deputy director Helmut Maegdefrau told reporters.
But the yet-unnamed 4-week-old cub — taken from its mother, Vera, on Tuesday amid concerns she could harm or even kill the newborn — is "lively, strong and well-fed," Maegdefrau said.

yet-unnamed 4-week-old cub

These cute photos of a polar bear cub in Berlin Zoo must surely cheer you up!

Knut kills carp shocker

Poor little thing.

Blamed for acting like a bear and blamed for not acting like a bear. People should make their mind up.

What harm can he do behind bars?

quoted animal welfare campaigners as criticizing the zoo for letting Knut eat live vertebrates in breach of German animal protection regulations

And, as of this month, he's the subject of an ownership battle between Berlin zoo and Neumuenster zoo in northern Germany, which claims it's due a slice of the Knut millions. It argues that, as his father, Lars, lives there and was lent to Berlin for breeding purposes, it is the legal owner of the first offspring.

Berlin disagrees. But it's standard practice in the zoo world, says Bill Rapley, Toronto Zoo's conservation director, who has been following the sorry saga.

"We do not want to remove Knut from his environment," Neumuenster zoo has warned, hinting that it could happen. "But we have a right to our request for money."