BERLIN, Germany — Berlin’s latest zoo celebrity, a fluffy polar bear cub, made her first tentative steps on the public stage Friday, with media hungry to anoint her the rightful successor to late lamented superstar Knut. “We’re very happy with her development,” the zoo’s polar bear vet Florian Sicks said in a statement. Tierpark is hoping she will take the place in Germans’ hearts once occupied by Knut, the universally adored polar bear born in 2006 and hand-reared by west Berlin zookeepers after being rejected by his mother. A bronze statue of Knut now stands in the west Berlin Zoo. ADVERTISEMENTIts Arctic habitat threatened by global warming, the polar bear is listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 15, 2019 13:07 UTC