SakshiBecoming His Surrogate Mother
Looking after a cub was not an easy feat. He acted as a surrogate mother for the cub for nearly 18 months. Dörflein had his sleeping mattress adjacent to Knut’s crate where he used to sleep at night. He was the best caretaker Knut could ever have. Dörflein used to bath, feed and play with him. He made sure that Knut is safe and secure in every possible way. He also gave extra care to Knut’s diet that kept changing with his age. During infancy, he hand-fed cub with a bottle of baby formula blended in cod liver oil at the interval of every two hours. And when he grew four months old his diet included milk porridge mixed with cat food and vitamins.