Animal Rights Activists Want to Kill Baby Polar Bear

In December, Knut, a baby polar bear, along with his brother, was abandoned by his mother. Although the brother died, zoo officials decided they didn't want the same fate for Knut. Instead of being left to die, officials with the Berlin Zoo decided to save the baby polar bear and feed it by hand.

The human thing to do, right?

Not according to Frank Albrecht. According to the animal "lover," that wasn't the humane thing to do at all.

"The zoo must kill the bear," he says. "Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws." He and other activists say the animal should be given a lethal injection, to keep the bear from "suffering the humiliation" of being a domestic pet.

The Berlin Zoo, politicians from all levels, and German schoolchildren were quick to disagree. Since Albrecht's comments became public, children carrying signs saying "Knut must live!" and "Knut does good!" have protested at the zoo's Polar Bear enclosure.

The Zoo's chief vet - Andre Schuele - criticized Albrecht's remarks, saying, "Those who say he should die have entirely the wrong mindset."

Fellow animal rights activists also jumped into the fray, chastising their colleague. "The killing of an animal has nothing to do with animal protection," said the head of the German Federation for the Protection of Animals, Wolfgang Apel.

Not everyone is on the side of the bear, however. In addition to Albrecht, an animal rights organization called "Four Paws" has criticized the zoo's handling of the baby polar bear. They agreed with Albrecht, who said that "If a polar bear mother rejected the baby, then I believe the zoo must follow the instincts of nature. In the wild, it would have been left to die."

Schuele, who is charged with caring for the bear, disagrees. "Polar bears are under the threat of extinction," he says. "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."

Knut is scheduled to make his public appearance at the zoo sometime within the next week. He recently "posed" for a photo spread with photographer Annie Leibovitz as part of an environmental protection campaign.

For those interested in keeping track of what Knut is up to until his debut at the zoo, a large number of photos are available on the zoo's website.

Sources:

www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/19/polar.bear.ap/index.html
www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html
www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html
www.zoo-berlin.de/en.html