My heart melted the second I saw his white, furry face with black, round eyes on the tube. As I was in a hurry, I only had time to learn the whole news about him later in the internet. And boy, doesn't this baby have potential to split a nation!
To make the story short (I have a feeling this is no big news in Indonesia, hehehe...), Knut is polar bear cub abandoned by his mother, so he had to spend the first 44 days of his life in an incubator. He is now being taken care by a zoo keeper (in Berlin Zoo, that is), who practically lives with him 24/7, feeds him milk, plays with him and teaches him basic self-care any baby bear (or maybe any baby animal) should learn, and practically treats him like his own infant kid.
But this cutie has become a national sensation, not because of his "dramatic" life (if I'm not mistaken, animal newborns neglected by their parents are pretty common), but because his very existence is disputed. Some animal rights campaigners opined that the Berlin Zoo had made a mistake when they saved his life at the first place. Their main argument has been that intervention in an animal, particularly wild animal's life cycle will only harm the animal. One of them has angered many people when he said that the zoo should've killed Knut while he was just born. The zoo management, and those on their side, responded by emphasizing that it's one way to keep the polar bears' population from further extinction (note: Knut is the first cub born in the Berlin Zoo in the past 20 years).
Just observe this video and you can see why the baby captures many hearts (including mine!) and therefore stirs the current even more (it's in German, but you'll get the idea).
Strangely, no matter how deep I've fallen in love with Knut, I somehow understand the concern of those who think it's not wise to raise him like a, well, human being. I'm against "humanizing" animals -- so I'll never, for instance, dress my pets up and tuck them inside the house all day, unless for strong reasons, e.g. my neighbors get really uncomfortable with them around, hehehhee.... Polar bears are not domesticated animals, so it might not be the best decision to treat one like a pet -- let alone an offspring. When he grows up, Knut may get confused, and who knows, he might suffer a self-identity crisis!
Oh, but he's soooooo adorable :(.
Nuts About Knut!
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5 comments:
Cutie, too bad I can't access the You Tube, dunno why ...
Hmmm... maybe there are too many indecent materials in YouTube that your office block the access to it, kekekkekkekekkek...
aduh gue selalu suka bear cub..atau tiger cub..mereka itu emang lucu banget..tapi kalau di pelihara bisa repot kali...ntar kalau udah gede mereka bisa makan daging sampe 10 kilo/hari (dikali 56 ribu) waksss... stengah juta sehari ??? gaji gue kudu brapa duit yak ?
atau kita suruh makan nasi ajah biar jinak dan cuddle able.
sondi, dengan memelihara mereka di rumah lo yang lahannya terbatas itu (kecuali lo tarzan dan tinggal di hutan) lo malah menyiksa mereka tauuuuu...
he is one helluva cutie!
hey you know i watched a docu on NHK just recently about a bear cub they raised in Japan and he's as cute as little Knut here.
or was it the same bear cub? hm.
whatever. yang penting dua-duanya lutuuuuuu!!!! :D
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