PETA Peeved About Knut the Polar Bear's Death

By Christine Fenno Posted Mar 20th 2011 09:08AM

Following the sudden death of 4-year-old Knut, the star of the Berlin Zoo, PETA now says they reached out months ago asking the famous bear's handlers to do more for his safety.

Knut's mother rejected him shortly after his birth and he was raised by hand; his adorable photos took the world by storm when he was a cub, and he generated millions for the zoo.

Polar bears reportedly have a life expectancy of three decades or more in the wild; it's allegedly 15-20 years in captivity.

Knut (pictured at the height of his fame in 2007) was inexplicably found dead in a pool on Saturday, inside the enclosure he shared with three female bears. Germans, and fans the world over, have reacted with shock.

But PETA says Knut's death may have been preventable.

A rep for the animal-rights organization says the bears Knut shared space with "terrorized" him. The spokesperson told TMZ, "PETA Germany repeatedly asked zoo authorities to move Knut away from the three females to a different location. His premature death could possibly have been avoided. Polar bears don't belong in captivity."

Hundreds of tourists were reportedly visiting Knut's part of the zoo at the time of his death, and theories abound that he died after mating. Witnesses say he was walking in circles and shaking moments before collapsing. The cause of death is being investigated.

Tags: knut, peta

Comments

(48)

Sunday 20 March

By uschi

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

dear knut,we love you,and will allways remember you....
warum bist du von uns gegangen,war deine kleine baerenseele kaputt??????????
now you are in haven with your papa.we love you.....

By rose

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Bears don't know how to read.

By suzy

here we go again another case of greedy people mating animals for their own greed lining their pockets with gold ..zoo,s should be all closed down they are a huge from of animal cruelty,animals belong in there natural habitat...don,t take your kids to the zoo..teach them about animals at home via internet etc..we don,t need to support them importing animals and imprisoning them..how would you like to be locked in a small cage for the rest of your life while people throw food at you......time for change close the zoo,s

By susan

you do realize that without zoos a lot of species would be just about extinct don't you? and if you're SO into nature, you do know that wildlife IS wild? they aren't tame and anthromophorsizing them will NOT prevent this sort of thing! or maybe they should euthanize the three females for "terrorizing" and probably killing him.

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hi,i think thats wrong too.we have educate the people better,starting at home.kids today dont have a family life.
it is no moore love in the world.....

By bleck

animal rights activists said that Knut should have been killed rather than humiliated by being raised "as a domestic pet". He declared that the zoo was violating animal protection legislation by keeping him alive. Guess they are happy now.

By wils

if you close the zoos many species would die out entirely. i think you are out of line.

By Blubberbutt

German Zoos after WW11 starved their animals and they were in poor condition like Afgan zoos. This bear was a runt and weak. The dominate bears picked on him, bit his ears and considered him undesirable. In the wild he would not have made it. Wild animals kill their weak because they could not survive. He should have not been kept as a whipping boy or freak on display. Poor thing he never had a fair chance at life.

By RobertnAK

BlubberButt, you are so full of it. I doubt if you have even been to the nearest zoo to where you live, and most definatly not to ANY zoo in Germany. The Frankfurt, and Berlin Zoo are two of the most breathtaking and most natural zoos that I have ever visited. Get out of your mom's basement and go live in the real world, it might amaze you and you won't have to depend on what a bunch of liberal crap spewers are trying to feed you.

Monday 21 March

By kristine

I hear he wanted to be a lawyer. Yes it's so sad and tragic!

By hatrick3

PETA- PEOPLE EATING TASTY ANIMALS

By lisa

Wow, thats original

By Paul

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PETA you need to bar=b=que a cow.

By Anonymous

Some of you people are ignorant as all hell. The majorities of zoos are actually doing a work of good to endangered species like Polar bears, who have had a very vast majority of their habitats destroyed by our planets rapidly changing climate already a fault of humanity. To put the bears into enclosures may seem wrong to you, but how's that opposed to the creatures starving to death on the ice because we've fished away, polluted and slaughtered their natural food supply? Need I remind anyone that Knut the polar bear specifically was REJECTED by his mother at birth which does in fact happen in the wild, and would have DIED in the wild if he hadn't been hand raised by the keepers of that zoo?
PETA needs to shut the hell up, because they don't know if the death of this polar bear could have been prevented at all, the autopsy has yet to be done. He could have just as well died from cancer or a tumor.

By Ashley

I agree with you, Anonymous. PETA should be ashamed of itself for using Knut's death in an effort to gain publicity. They blame captivity for it, and the investigation hasn't even been finished. For all we know, he could've had a rare heart disorder no one knew about. A polar bear's life in the wild isn't peaches and cream. It's very dangerous, even without the human threats it faces, and many don't make it to adulthood. That's something PETA can't seem to grasp.

By Wrigleythecat

You might try visiting Churchill, Manitoba when the P-Bears are mating.
There are many more in that location than you might feel safe being among.
If you think these mamoths are endangered then you as a human had better get your butt off of your concrete sidewalks and find out for yourself what really goes on in the "wild".

By Chris O

Here we go another example for that terriorist organization PETA to spew their retoric. Frankly I'm sick and tired of hearing about PETA.

By Farmer Joe's wife

They are not a terroist group at all. They are voices for the defenseless. You must be an animal abuser. We have animals on the farm also, and even up to their time of slaughter, which is done in a humane way, they are well fed and cared for. A happy cow produces better results for you. Stressed out animals produce tough meat. And what do you produce if you are stressed out? High blood pressure and all the bad health issues.

By Forge

Actually, PETA itself is not considered to be a terrorist organization, but certain members within the organization ARE considered to be domestic terrorists due to the tactics they choose to employ.

Peta IS a terrorist group. They would far rather that YOU die instead of a cow.

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