It would have had more bears in it in the 1960s than these three or four. When I visited Berlin Zoo for the first time, as late as 1995, they had 7 Polar Bears in this exhibit and 3 in a back exhibit, a total of 10 Polar Bears! Can you see such a thing anywhere today?
I'm glad I got to see the exhibit twice (1995 and 2004) well before the Knut pandemonium began. He's just a Polar Bear and should be treated as such. When the mentally-ill woman jumped into the exhibit, the media asked if Knut was one of the three bears surrounding the woman before she was rescued (I don't think he has ever been kept in the big exhibit) only to be told by the zoo that Knut would never attack anyone. But he's a Polar Bear, right? Since when are they not among any zoo's most dangerous animals? For a serious zoo like Berlin Zoo, such statement is strange.
) well before the Knut pandemonium began. He's just a Polar Bear and should be treated as such. When the mentally-ill woman jumped into the exhibit, the media asked if Knut was one of the three bears surrounding the woman before she was rescued (I don't think he has ever been kept in the big exhibit) only to be told by the zoo that Knut would never attack anyone. But he's a Polar Bear, right? Since when are they not among any zoo's most dangerous animals? For a serious zoo like Berlin Zoo, such statement is strange.
Yes, I remember it had more bears than I'd seen together anywhere else, at least five, maybe more, but it was also just about the biggest enclosure I had seen anywhere in those days..
I imagine they did not want to tarnish Knut's image. Like you I'm sure he would be just as dangerous as any other Polar Bear when full grown. People go mad over Polar Bear cubs but are surprised that they grow rapidly into big bears and the interest then rapidly wanes (oh! is that big bear Knut? I thought he was still a little fluffy cub...) If they heard he was dangerous that would further spoil the image, I guess.
Is this the enclosure the woman jumped into? I was interested to watch the video, when she was being rescued two of the bears seemed to hang back as if to allow the foremost(dominant?) one the chance to close in. They had their ears in the 'alert' position but did seem quite cautious and didn't all rush in to attack her as I might have expected.
