Thursday, October 27, 2011

What Do Polar Bears Eat

Despite Der Spiegel reporting on 30 April 2007 that Knut was "steadily getting less cute" as he increased in age, Knut continued to bring in record crowds to the zoo that summer. After reaching seven months old and 50 kg (110 lb) in July 2007, Knut's scheduled twice daily public appearances were canceled due to the zoo's concern for the safety of his keeper. Zoo spokeswoman Regine Damm also said it was time for the bear to "associate with other bears and not with other people." After living in the same enclosure as Ernst, a Malaysian black bear cub who was born a month before Knut, and its mother, Knut was then moved to his own private living space. While visitor numbers dwindled from extreme highs in March and April, Knut remained a major attraction at the zoo for the rest of 2007. 400,000 guests were recorded in August 2007, which was an all time high.
On 1 April, pathology experts announced that Knut's immediate cause of death was from drowning. The bear's apparent seizure was due to his suffering from encephalitis, a swelling of the brain likely triggered by an infection. It is unknown what infection caused the swelling, but pathologists believe it was a virus. Although Knut showed no symptoms of being ill, pathologists believe that "this suspected infection must already have been there for a long time ... at least several weeks, possibly months". It was also announced that had Knut not drowned after collapsing, he would not have survived the encephalitis.
Knut's sudden death caused an international outpouring of grief. Hundreds of fans visited the zoo after the bear's death, leaving flowers and mementos near the enclosure. The mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, stated "We all held him so dearly. He was the star of the Berlin zoos". The Zoo plans to erect a monument in Knut's honor, financed by donations from fans. Thomas Ziolko, the chairman of the Friends of the Berlin Zoo, was quoted as saying "Knut will live on in the hearts of many visitors, but it's important to create a memorial for coming generations to preserve the memory of this unique animal personality." Knut's remains may also be stuffed and put on display in Berlin's Museum of Natural History, although this decision has caused some controversy with fans.
Until his death, Knut shared an enclosure with three female polar bears: Nancy, Katjuscha and his mother Tosca. The older bears were reportedly aggressive towards the young male bear, causing news reports in late 2010 to question whether Knut was being bullied. One of the zookeepers disagreed, stating publicly that "For the time being, Knut is not yet an adult male and doesn't yet know how to get respect like his father did. But day by day, he is imposing himself and with time, this type of problem will go away."
Knut's need for round-the-clock care required that Dörflein not only sleep on a mattress next to Knut's sleeping crate at night, but also play with, bathe, and feed the cub daily. Knut's diet began with a bottle of baby formula mixed with cod liver oil every two hours, before graduating at the age of four months to a milk porridge mixed with cat food and vitamins. Dörflein also accompanied Knut on his twice-daily one-hour shows for the public and therefore appeared in many videos and photographs alongside the cub. As a result, Dörflein became a minor celebrity in Germany and was awarded Berlin's Medal of Merit in honour of his continuous care for the cub. Dörflein died of a heart attack on 22 September 2008. He was 44 years old.

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