Controversy

His death raked lots of controversy and troubles for the zoo. The zoo found itself in a lurch when an organization named Animal welfare organizations in Germany held the zoo responsible for the death of Knut. The organization said that it was due to zoo’s ignorance that Knut had to give up on his life. According to them, the bear died of the pressure that he underwent after having to share his enclosure with three female polar bears. Heiner Klöes, the bear curator defended the zoo by stating “did everything to look after Knut—it’s normal for polar bears to live with other polar bears in a zoo, and the idea was that Knut should learn social behavior and other skills from the older females… He played with the other bears, he was relaxed and strong.”