Germany has another Knut, but this time it's a girl, and her name is Flocke!!! :)

[lizbud]

The sad thing is; she started acting like that after a camera team came too close to the box in which she nursed her baby. After that, she became nervous and carried the little bear around, looking for another place, but there was none. Under the pressure of animal rights groups, they decided not to risk another life. But there's a discussion now not to have polar bears in zoos at all.

Kirsten

Pitiful. I wonder why they don't spay/neuter the adults & they would
spare them the trouble of dealing with babies who cannot thrive with their
mothers in a more natual enviroment..

[Kirsten]

Pitiful. I wonder why they don't spay/neuter the adults & they would
spare them the trouble of dealing with babies who cannot thrive with their
mothers in a more natual enviroment..

Exactly. But don't forget, it's the babies that drive the visitors to the zoos.

BTW, a part of me can see the zoo's point, that they wanted to give the mothers a chance to raise their babies, but they said in the beginning that hand-raising (like in Berlin with Knut) would be no option, no matter what happens. After the drama with the mother that ate her babies, animal right groups put a lot of pressure on the zoo to save at least the remaining cub if the mother starts acting strange. They argued that humans are very well responsible for the babies when they breed in such an unnatural environment, and that is a good point, I think.

But wow, this baby girl is already a celebrity. She got her own website today, where people can suggest a name. They got so many emails today that their server broke down.

http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/eisbaer/

Kirsten

[lizbud]

After the drama with the mother that ate her babies, animal right groups put a lot of pressure on the zoo to save at least the remaining cub if the mother starts acting strange. They argued that humans are very well responsible for the babies when they breed in such an unnatural environment, and that is a good point, I think.

http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/eisbaer/

Kirsten

I understand what you are saying and agree that "cute & cuddly" has a
place in the world but, why use the birth as a cash enterprise?

They are responsible for the babies ,as they allowed them to be born.

I think we can do a lot better job as animal stewards.

[Kirsten]

why use the birth as a cash enterprise?

Just the human nature, I suppose... The Berlin zoo made a lot of extra money with Knut, and he still has fans. But he is now a teenage bear who's sitting alone in his enclosure. He cannot live with other bears because he's not used to it, and he's missing his care taker who raised him, but who cannot play with him anymore because Knut is too big now. Sort of sad.

And yet I do believe that humans are responsible and have to save the cubs' lives when they are in danger. And I hope the little girl will survive, and live a good life!

Kirsten

[Kirsten]

Today, a jury agreed that "Flocke" (flake, snow flake) will be her official name. She's already used to it.

More than 30,000 suggestions for a new name have been sent in, but she will keep the name the caretakers have already given to her as a nickname.

She's doing fine, btw, and has opened her eyes meanwhile!

Kirsten

[Pawsitive Thinking]

The sad thing is; she started acting like that after a camera team came too close to the box in which she nursed her baby

Words fail me