"Knut" #1

Knut As A Cub.1, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. An interesting side story to Ursula Bottcher... Knut the Polar Bear cub who was the center of a controversy with animal rights groups, went on to take the world by storm, and finally created the media phenomenon, "Knutmania", is the offspring of one of Ursula Bottcher's Polar Bears, Tosca. Knut was born at the Berlin Zoo on December 5, 2006 to the 20-year-old Tosca, and her 13-year-old mate Lars. Tosca gave birth to two cubs, Knut and an unnamed brother. Tosca for unknown reasons rejected her cubs, abandoning them on a rock in the Polar Bear enclosure. Zoo keepers were able to rescue the cubs, but Knut's brother died four days later of an infection. The zoo credits Knut with a 27 percent increase in visitors in 2007 and profits of nearly 8.6 million dollars from the sale of products with Knut's image, including stuffed animals, T-shirts, mugs and DVDs.