Knut was not just well loved but also a very famous polar bear & his sudden death has left everyone in mourning. He was just 4 year old. They have no idea what’s the cause of his death. Moreover, animal rights activists are blaming zoo keepers for his death.
Kunt died in front of hundreds of visitors. He collapsed into a pool of water. That must have been a terrible sight.
A video has been posted online to show images of his Knut’s last minutes. He repeatedly turns around in a circle & then tumbles into the water.
Berlin Zoo's bear curator Heiner Klös says that he last saw Knut on Saturday afternoon shortly before his death and that he looked fine. "I was so shocked to hear that Knut had died — he'd been a big part of my life for the past four years," says Klös.
Knut became world famous cause his mother rejected him & he was looked after by Thomas Dörflein. Knut was the first polar bear to be born and raised at the Berlin Zoo in 33 years.
Berlin zoo made a fortune, thanks to Knut.
Thomas Pietsch, a wildlife expert at the Hamburg-based animal-welfare group Four Paws says: But it's wrong to keep polar bears in captivity. They need a lot of space and they're used to the Arctic climate." The fact that Knut died at the age of 4 is very unusual, noting that polar bears kept in captivity often live up to 30 years or more. "He didn't die of old age," says Pietsch.
Knut was stressed out. He showed signs but it wasn’t taken seriously. He was kept with 3 female bears. Polar bears tend to be loners. He was behaving strangely over the past year but the zoo keepers paid no heed to it.
"Knut was looking apathetic, he lay in a corner of his enclosure — someone should have picked up on this," says Claudia Hämmerling, a Berlin Green Party MP.
Preliminary reports of post-mortem have confirmed that Knut was suffering from a brain disorder. Further tests will be carried out.
In the meantime, zoo directors have hit back at any claims of negligence. "We did everything to look after Knut — it's normal for polar bears to live with other polar bears in a zoo, and the idea was that Knut should learn social behavior and other skills from the older females," says bear curator Klös, adding that up until his death, Knut was flourishing. "He played with the other bears, he was relaxed and strong," says Klös. Which makes the young bear's sad, sudden death all the more mysterious.
Source:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2060743,00.html#ixzz1Hhdv0Kac
