Knut the polar bear.
Hans-Martin Issler, Getty Images Twin polar bear cubs Aleut and Gregor made their first foray into the public eye at the Nuremberg Zoo on Thursday, dazzling zoo-goers with a three-hour playtime packed with cute antics. According to the Daily Mail, the 45-pound cubs spent the afternoon pawing their way around the Arctic Circle enclosure and taking swimming lessons in their chilled pool, all while under the protective eye of their mother, Vera. Aleut and Gregor are expected to tip the scales at 1,500 pounds when fully grown. Only days after the sudden death of 4-year-old superstar Knut (also born at the Nuremberg Zoo), Aleut and Gregor's coming out party couldn't have happened at a better ...
David Gannon, AFP / Getty Images At the tender age of 4, Knut, the cutest, most famous polar bear in the history of the world, collapsed and died suddenly inside his enclosure at the Berlin Zoo on Saturday. According to the AP, Knut had been strolling around the space he shared with three other bears on Saturday when he reportedly "went into the water, had a short spasm and died." Zoo-goers were shocked and confused to see the beloved bear laying motionless. Zoo staff fenced off the enclosure when they realized what had happened. "All the zookeepers who put up the fences were so very sad," visitor Camilla Verde told the AP. "One of them said, 'He was our baby.' " ...
davidoo750, Flickr If it were up to animal rights group, PETA, the world's most famous and beloved polar bear, Knut at the Berlin Zoo, would be castrated. "Knut is sharing his quarters with another polar bear named Giovanna, who is his cousin," states PETA on its Web site, adding that Knut and Giovanna (whose nickname is Gianna) share the same grandfather. To avoid any possibility that the pair will mate and produce inbred offspring, PETA's Germany chapter is demanding that Knut be castrated. "If Knut and Giovanna were to have any offspring, it could threaten the genetic diversity of Germany's polar bear population, and the new bears could be susceptible to a condition known as 'incest ...