Goodbye Knut the polar bear


Knut was born at the Berlin Zoo to 20-year-old Tosca, a former circus performer from East Germany who was born in Canada, and her 13-year-old mate Lars, who was originally from the Tierpark Hellabrunn in Munich. After an uncomplicated gestation, Knut and his unnamed brother were born on 5 December 2006. Tosca rejected her cubs for unknown reasons, abandoning them on a rock in the polar bear enclosure. Zoo keepers rescued the cubs by scooping them out of the enclosure with an extended fishing net, but Knut's brother died of an infection four days later. Knut was the first polar bear to have been born and survive in the Berlin Zoo in over 30 years. Only the size of a guinea pig, he spent the first 44 days of his life in an incubator before zoo keeper Thomas Dörflein began raising the cub.



Knut became the center of a mass media phenomenon dubbed "Knutmania" that spanned the globe and spawned toys, media specials, DVDs, and books.



On 19 March 2011, Knut collapsed and died in his enclosure at the age of four. Witnesses reported that after the bear's rear left leg began shaking, he became agitated before convulsing several times and falling backwards into the water. Knut drowned before zookeepers could rescue him from the water.Approximately 600 to 700 zoo visitors witnessed Knut's death.The cause of death has yet to be fully determined (in captivity polar bears can live for 30 years), but a statement made on 22 March in relation to an ongoing necropsy reported there were "significant changes in the brain, which may be regarded as a reason for the sudden death".

A sad story that touched the world.

My friend  thetyronelectric made another awesome tribute: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5453984