Cuter than Knut?

Beleaguered Zoo to Hand-Rear Surviving Polar Bear Cub

Nuremberg Zoo, under a barrage of criticism for letting two polar bear cubs die because it didn't want to interfere with their upbringing, has decided to hand-rear its remaining cub. The zoo now faces the 'Knutomania' its management had been trying to avoid.

Nuremberg Zoo has decided to hand-rear its surviving polar bear cub following fierce criticism of its failure to prevent the deaths of two other cubs, believed to have been eaten by their mother.

The zoo's management, which had said last week it was prepared to let the polar bear cubs die rather than interfere with their upbringing, said it had changed its mind after mother "Vera" had appeared increasingly nervous and had started walking around her enclosure with the live cub in her mouth.

The cub has now been taken away from Vera and will be hand-reared like Berlin Zoo's world-famous Knut. Nuremberg Zoo had said last week it was maintaining a strict "hands-off" policy to allow the polar bears to learn how to rear offspring, and because it wanted to avoid "Knutomania" surrounding its cubs.

"It makes one want to cry to see that the mother had so far been bringing the cup up perfectly and one now has to give up," said Nuremberg Zoo Director Dag Encke, the German news agency dpa reported. The baby was "well and had been excellently fed," he added.

The zoo had said on Monday that two other cubs born five weeks ago to polar bear "Vilma" were dead and that she had probably eaten them. The deaths provoked a storm of criticism from animal experts who said the zoo had acted irresponsibly in not intervening.

Germany's biggest selling newspaper, Bild, ran the deaths of the two bear cubs on its front page on Tuesday and asked: "Why weren't they saved like Knut?"

Nuremberg's Deputy Mayor said Vera might have been made nervous by the camera teams and photographers surrounding her enclosure this week. The zoo has rejected criticism of its hands-off policy and said it had acted in accordance with the European Endangered Species Program (EEP).

cro/dpa