Germany in shock: a polar bear eats a fish

"The Frankfurter Allgemeine news website reports that Knut "senselessly murdered the carp", fishing them out, playing with them and then leaving the remains."

Doh. It's a polar bear. It has a natural instinct. It is SUPPOSED to kill fish. Hand-rearing it may mess with its head, but it will not remove instinct. And nor should it. Also, anyone who thought the carp would be left alone to eat algae and remain intact is stupider than those who succumbed to "Knut-mania" int he first place. And if somebody put the carp in there to show that the polar in question was a wild animal and not some sort of vegetarian celebrity then good on them! An animal is an animal. Full stop.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Germany's celebrity polar bear Knut has triggered a new controversy by fishing out 10 live carp from his moat and killing them in front of visitors. Critics say Berlin Zoo should not have put live fish inside Knut's enclosure. But German media report that the carp were put there to eat up algae. There is speculation that hand-reared Knut killed the carp just for fun. A new polar bear cub - Flocke - made her public debut at Nuremberg Zoo on Tuesday, shown live on television. But the zoo has said it wants to avoid any repetition of "Knut mania". Knut was rejected by his mother, but Berlin Zoo decided to hand-rear him, in a controversial move. There has been heated debate about whether cubs rejected by their mothers should be saved or whether nature should be allowed to run its course. The Frankfurter Allgemeine news website reports that Knut "senselessly murdered the carp", fishing them out, playing with them and then leaving the remains.