http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1811


Knut the polar bear is a 'publicity-addicted psycho', says keeper as he risks his job to speak out
Knut the polar bear has turned from a cuddly cub into a publicity-addicted psycho, one of his keepers claimed yesterday.

Markus Roebke said Berlin Zoo's celebrity animal was obsessed with the limelight and howled with rage when denied an audience.

"Knut must go and the sooner the better," he said, insisting that the bear should be sent to an animal park where he received less attention



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so cute, scary picture





Then and now: Left, Knut as a cuddly baby before his adoring fans, and right, as a grown-up 'publicity-addicted psycho'

"He is addicted to the whole show, the human adulation. It is not healthy.

"He actually cries out or whimpers if he sees that there is not a spectator outside his enclosure ready to ooh and aah at him.

"When the zoo had to shut because of black ice everywhere he howled until staff members stood before him and calmed him down."

Knut was rejected by his mother after he was born in December 2006, prompting some animal activists to say it would be better for him to die than to be weaned by man.

The zoo let him live however and he has become a major attraction, pulling in £6million in revenue so far.

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Now Knut is bigger, the crowds are larger - and, his keeper warns, his mental health is deteriorating

Mr Roebke added: "The trouble is that he identifies himself as a human and not as a polar bear.

"And as long as he is with us he will always think of Thomas Doerflein, the keeper who brought him up when he was a baby, as his father. Knut needs publicity and that must change.

"We are not allowed to have contact with him and have received letters that if we breach this order our jobs are on the line. He is too unpredictable to play with now."

Mr Roebke is not the only observer to question Knut's sanity. In January, a prominent animal conservationist branded him "an animal psychopath".

So they trap cubs in small artificial environments where they are raised, fed, nurtured, visited and taunted by humans on a daily basis.. yet they're surprised when one becomes accustomed to it. I don't have any particular stance towards zoos, I enjoyed them as a kid and my daughter enjoys them today..and I always liked the Polar Bears, still do. I remember some kid in the 80s getting killed by a couple of em at the local zoo after climbing in while the zoo was closed..and I guess I'd rather they craved human attention over human flesh.

Ok.

No one is suprised by this. But if this is the only way we are going to have polar bears alive in 100 years then so be it.

HUH ??

This is sick. If your going to help animals that are in danger that's one thing but using them for public amusement is wrong. Zoos should be strictly to help animals the public should not be allowed in at all and the environments should be large.

I think if i was held in captivity since my infancy, and kept from living out my natural instincts i'd go a little nuts too! Thats why i like what they did with a couple of cubs rescued in our area. They kept them close, and built a den right in their own environment. They kept an eye on them to make sure they were ok, snapped pictures, and video for the news but limited all other human contact! Then as they grew they placed a fence around a large area of the mountain they naturally inhabbited, to keep them safe from predetors and humans. As they grew, and needed more room the fencing was expanded till they were large enough to defend themselves, and finally as they wandered further away took the fencing down completely! I believe they are radio collered just to make sure those involved in this attemt to keep the bears living their natural way could check on their progress from time to time. Last i heard they were free and doing great living the life they were meant to live!

Meh. Sounds like every other celebrity out there to me, maybe he just needs a new agent? Get pregnant? Adopt a baby from a poor country? I don't fricken know, he's just a bear, give him some attention... maybe put up cardboard cutouts of people outside his enclosure? At least he isn't in rehab.