A baby polar bear that was rejected by its mother at a German zoo is now being reared by humans and stirring up quite a debate. Sheila MacVicar reports..




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In Germany, an adorable baby polar bear at the zoo has set off an emotional debate. The issue is whether the cub has become too dependent on humans. CBS news correspondent Sheila Macviker reports.

Make no mistake about it: This is one very cute bear, Mee Knut, the 4-month-old polar bear, star of the Berlin zoo international celebrity and now, the center of a bad-tempered row about whether he should be allowed to live. Knut is the first polar bear born here in 30 years that alone should guarantee fame. At the story of his birth, he was abandoned with his twin by their mother Tosca. She is a one-time circus bear, a first-time mother. She left her cubs on a rock to die.

Scooped up by keepers with a fishing net …… 44 days in an incubator, bottle fed every few hours by his devoted keeper and mother bear substitute on a mix of baby formula and cod-liver oil, with now, a little chopped-up chicken, Knut has thrived. With webpages, podcasts and weekly updates on the local news, Germans are entranced. Knut with a ball, Knut in the pool, Knut with a teddy bear.

Animal rights activists have been enraged. On the front page of newspapers, they have argued nature should have taken its course, better a lethal injection than a bottle-fed Knut, in danger of losing his inner bear. The zoo has offered assurances to a horrified public that it has nothing but Knut's best interests at heart. And even the animal rights activists … it would be too cruel to put him to death now. As for the bear, he makes his debut in front of an already adoring public later this week. Sheila macviker, CBS news. London.

German news reports say that the zookeeper even plays Elvis Presley’s songs to the bear on a guitar. Knut has the life.