The death of Knut, the polar bear

Knut, the famous polar bear in the Berlin Zoo, has died.  All of Germany - and much of the world - fell in love with Knut when he was rejected by his mother (common for polar bears in captivity).  He survived by being hand-fed by a zoo caretaker, Thomas Doerflein.

Well, below is the very sad (and disturbing) video of Knut dying.  He spins in circles, his left hind leg starts to twitch, then his whole body shakes, he screams, and then collapses.  You can hear the gasps from the spectators, then calls for help.  Knut was 4 years old.  Polar bears in the wild usually live from 15-20 years.  

So what can we learn from this tragedy?

• It was a one of the best zoos.  The Berlin Zoo is the largest zoo in the world, and one of the best.  They are trying very hard to keep these animals alive.  (They were making a lot of money from Knut too, so had a large financial incentive to keep him alive.)
• Health is a hard problem.  We still don't know how to keep many wild animals healthy in captivity.  Knut was the first polar bear cub at the Berlin Zoo to survive past infancy in 30 years.  Many zoo animals have difficulty reproducing, express odd repetitive behaviors, and have signs of chronic disease (tooth decay, heart problems).  Knut was bullied by the other bears in his enclosure.  They think Knut had a brain problem.
• Some species are "wilder" than others.  By wilder, I mean less fit for living in an enclosed space, in close proximity to humans, not eating their natural diet, and missing key aspects of life in the wild.  (Humans aren't as wild as polar bears, for example.)  It's worth noting that many species live considerably longer in zoos than in the wild.  Many wild animals eventually starve to death, or are eaten by predators.
• Knut's keeper also died young.  Thomas Doerflein, who had fed and raised him after Knut, also died young.  How?  A heart attack at age 44.  He died soon after not being allowed to enter Knut's enclosure, because Knut had grown too large.  Stress + Male + Normal (aka Bad) Diet.  Humans shouldn't be dying of heart attacks at age 44 (and dietary cholesterol isn't to blame).
• Nature is the model.  More zoos are trying to replicate wild habitats (and diets), rather than keeping animals in cages.  So just keep in mind as you read stories about animals in zoos, the best zoos are basically thinking like we do on this blog.  A little bit of that thinking might have saved Thomas Doerflein's life too.

Here is the full article, which contains more.  Here are some photos of Knut.