Posts tagged "ThomasDorflein"

Polar Bears' First Date Goes 'Strikingly' Well

by Kristen Seymour (Subscribe to Kristen Seymour's posts): Oct 2nd 2009 4:00PM Filed Under: Exotic Pets

Photo: Markus Schreiber, AP

Knut the polar bear sure is growing up fast! Our fuzzy little guy had his first date earlier this week with Gianna, a three-year-old female polar bear on loan from the Munich Zoo, reports Huffington Post.

This is the first bear Knut has ever had contact with, and boy, did they ever make contact -- Gianna smacked Knut, reports People Pets. According to the site, Knut was (understandably) stunned to see another bear in his enclosure, and zookeeper Heiner Klos is quoted as saying, "It was as we expected it to be. Knut was very shy and the Munich bear was clearly the one wearing the dirndl."

(Is anyone else picturing a polar bear in a dirndl now? Or is that just us?)

While Gianna might be playing hard to get for now, plenty of hope is being held out that the two will, eventually, move beyond a platonic relationship and mate. Both bears have difficult backgrounds, according to People Pets. Knut, as you likely know, was rejected by his mother and hand-raised by Thomas Dörflein, who died suddenly last year. Knut has been lonely ever since. Gianna, meanwhile, had to be moved from an enclosure with a previous suitor after she developed an intense dislike for him.

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Getty Images

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