Knut the Polar Bear Needs a New Home
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 12. 3.08
Photo via Seabamirum
Knut – a polar bear we’ve loved to watch grow up here on TreeHugger – is the latest housing market victim.
The Berlin zoo can no longer afford to house the big bear, who needs a larger compound to match his ever growing size and activity needs. So they’re putting up a “Polar Bear Seeking New Home” sign. Where is Knut headed next?
The Berlin zoo’s bearkeeper has decided that Knut, at two years old, is needing more room to romp both in the water and in the sack. He needs a larger compound to get more exercise and mate, but that means a €9m investment in new construction that the strapped zoo just can’t afford right now.
The zoo's senior bearkeeper, Heiner Kloes, agreed: "It's time for him to go - the sooner he gets a new home the better. Anything else would be financially irresponsible."
Yet again, human concerns about finances are making polar bears homeless. This is one of those situations where you can just imagine every child in Berlin under 11 in Berlin – and farther - pulling pennies from couch cushions to save their fuzzy buddy. It’s actually amazing that the fame of the polar bear isn’t earning him enough for the construction job.
But it is likely he’ll find some other quality zoo that can afford him, and will likely earn them a pile of cash thanks to the excitement of a famous white bear moving in. Not without sadness from Berliners:
"Berlin is set to lose one of its best ambassadors," said Christian Taenzler, a tourism authority spokesman. "To the regret of international visitors it is about to lose one of its true icons."
So where might Knut go? Sweden’s bear park, Orsa, is eyeballing him, and so is an animal refuge in Norway. But there is also the draw of a potential girlfriend at the Gelsenkirchen zoo.
All in all, he needs somewhere new. So we’ll have to watch and see where the iconic bear will go next.
Via the Guardian
More on Knut the Polar Bear:
Knut: A Great Book for Kids
A Picture is Worth... Polar Bear Knut is 1 Year Old
Polar Bear Lovers Mourn Death of the Man Who Saved Knut
Bride of Knut? A Lesson for Survival of Species
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Unbelievable. So while he was a cute little polar bear making them globs of money and getting them attention it was okay. But now he's all grown up he's got to go? They didn't think he'd grow up and need more space? Nice planning.
send him to Japan,they need a male polar bear.
http://www.slate.com/id/2205857/?GT1=38001
I think that this is a very sad story. Of course a lot of zoos that I know of are struggling financially too and its a shame that the animals have to suffer for it!
At least your site did provide some encouraging news in that there are some places that want the polar bear - thank goodness for that!
Oh good gravy! Now they are "re-homing" a polar bear. I'm surprised he did not end up on "craigslist, pets" with all the other animals bought as babies then discarded due to short sighted, bad planning and carelessness. This zoo should be ashamed.
I'm with the commenter who says to run a kiddie fund drive.
Have the young 'uns do bake sales and lemonade stands until the fuzzy guy can get set up.