Animal Rights Activists Say Baby Polar Bear Should Be Killed

By Linda Orlando

Tiny little Knut, the darling of the Berlin Zoo, was born three months ago to a mother who didn’t want anything to do with him. His twin brother died four days after he was born, and when zoo officials realized Knut’s mother was rejecting her offspring, they took it upon themselves to raise the adorable little cub by hand.

Knut quickly became a featured symbol of the Berlin Zoo, with videos shown of him being bottle-fed by staff members and cuddled and played with like a puppy. But once animal rights activists got wind of the cub being raised by humans, they immediately started complaining, saying that Knut was suffering the humiliation of being brought up as a domestic pet rather than a wild animal. Activists say that he should be given a lethal injection and euthanized.

"The zoo must kill the bear," said Frank Albrecht, a spokesman for the Foundation for Bears, the group that is up in arms about Knut. "Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws." Albrecht’s group feels that because polar bears are fierce predators easily capable of taking care of themselves in the wild, it is inappropriate for zookeepers to snuggle and bottle-feed little Knut. "He will be reliant on humans forever and this cannot be right," said Albrecht.

Ruediger Schmiedel, head of the Foundation, says that treating the cub this way is inhumane and could cause future problems for him in interacting with grown polar bears. "They cannot domesticate a wild animal," Schmiedel said. Activists point to a similar case in the Leipzig city zoo last year where a baby sloth was put to sleep after being abandoned by its mother.

But Berlin Zoo officials do not agree. Andre Schuele, chief vet at the zoo, says that polar bears live alone in the wild, and there is no logical reason why Knut should be killed. "Those who say he should die have entirely the wrong mindset." Schuele also pointed out that wild polar bears are becoming increasingly rare, so it is a positive thing to keep them alive in captivity so 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," he said.

Wolfram Ludwig, director of the Aachen zoo, understands the concerns of the activists. "I don’t think it is right that he should grow up fixated on his keeper and reliant on him for everything. He will not be a proper Polar bear." But, he added, "I also think it is too late to kill him now. The courage to do this should have been found sooner."

Knut was recently voted Berlin’s top citizen in a television poll, and was photographed by Annie Leibovitz for an environmental protection campaign. When media reports emerged that activists were calling for the fluffy little bear to be killed, distraught schoolchildren gathered outside the Berlin Zoo’s polar bear enclosure to protest and wave signs saying, "Knut must live!" and "Knut does good!"

The zoo announced on Tuesday that they would not bow to pressure from animal rights activists. "There will be no executioner coming for him, I guarantee you," said Schuele. Knut’s keeper, Thomas Doerflein, celebrated the news by giving Knut a new toy to play with.