Berlin zoo monitoring Knut following keeper's death
Published: 25 Sep, 2008 CET.
Updated: Thu 25 Sep 2008 08:41 CET
Officials at Berlin’s zoo have said they are paying extra attention to their world-famous polar bear Knut following the shocking death of the man who raised him as cub.
Zookeeper Thomas Dörflein died at the age of 44 this week from a heart attack. The mild-mannered animal expert became famous after he took care of Knut when the bear’s mother shunned him.
“Knut will go on looking for his keeper for a few days,” zoo official Heiner Klös told the website of daily Bild. “The bear has noticed that someone is no longer there.”
But Klös made clear the zoo didn’t think Knut would mourn his surrogate father. “Polar bears can miss people, but they can’t mourn like humans,” he said.
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Zookeeper Thomas Dörflein died at the age of 44 this week from a heart attack. The mild-mannered animal expert became famous after he took care of Knut when the bear’s mother shunned him.
“Knut will go on looking for his keeper for a few days,” zoo official Heiner Klös told the website of daily Bild. “The bear has noticed that someone is no longer there.”
But Klös made clear the zoo didn’t think Knut would mourn his surrogate father. “Polar bears can miss people, but they can’t mourn like humans,” he said.
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