Knut is dangerous

The week's news at a glance.

Berlin

Knut, an adorable polar bear cub who has become a national star, has grown too big to play. Knut and the Berlin zookeeper who raised him, Thomas Dörflein, have been delighting audiences since March with their twice-daily performances, usually wrestling or swimming together. In the past few weeks, though, Dörflein had been getting badly bruised in the encounters, so the zoo decided to call off the shows. Dörflein said he was relieved to stop performing with the bear. He said he’d become such a celebrity across Germany that he was getting marriage proposals from total strangers. “But this doesn’t mean that I will never play with Knut again,” he said. “I am always there for him.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us