Sep 27, 2008 04:30 AM
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The world’s most famous polar bear was born Dec. 5, 2006 at the Berlin Zoo. Knut’s mother, a former East German circus bear, rejected him and his brother, leaving them on a rock to die. The brother did, but zoo officials decided to have a human raise Knut.
The human was Thomas Dörflein, a bearded, ponytailed zookeeper who had worked at the zoo since he was 16. For 18 months, Dörflein slept on a mattress beside Knut. He hand-fed him milk and porridge. He sang Elvis songs to lull him to sleep. Twice a day, he wrestled with a tiny bear for thousands of zoo visitors. When some animal-rights campaigners argued Knut should have been left to die — raised by a human, one argued, he would be “dysfunctional” — the German public reacted angrily. The relationship between Knut and Dörflein had become a national concern. Top newspapers ran Knut diaries. Knut merchandise sold briskly.
Zoo attendance rose more than 25 per cent. And Dörflein, a father of three with a steady girlfriend, became a celebrity himself. “When I leave work I get besieged by young women,” he told a German newspaper. “I’m afraid to go out there.”
Last July, the zoo’s director decided Knut was too big to play with. He also feared the bear had become overly dependent on his surrogate father. Dörflein was removed as his sole keeper, then barred from contact with him. By this spring, Knut appeared to have psychological problems, whimpering or howling when he did not receive human attention.
Dörflein died Monday, of an apparent heart attack, in Berlin. He was 44.
