An animal rights activist has been condemned for suggesting that an abandoned polar bear cub should be killed instead of being raised by humans.
Knut was born in Berlin Zoo last December but his mother ignored him and his brother, who later died.
Activist Frank Albrecht was quoted in the Bild newspaper, which has run
photo spreads of the little bear, as saying: "Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws.
"The zoo must kill the bear."
The comments were quickly condemned by the zoo, politicians and other animal rights groups.
"The killing of an animal has nothing to do with animal protection," said Wolfgang Apel, head of the German Federation for the Protection of Animals.
Mr Albrecht has claimed he was quoted out of context.
He explained that although he thought it was wrong of the zoo to have saved the cub's life, now that the bear can live on his own, it would be equally wrong to kill him.
"If a polar bear mother rejected the baby, then I believe the zoo must follow the instincts of nature," Mr Albrecht said.
"In the wild, it would have been left to die."
Other activists have claimed that current treatment of the cub is inhumane and could lead to future difficulties interacting with fellow polar bears.
But Berlin Zoo's vet, Andre Schuele, who is looking after Knut, disagrees.
He said: "These criticisms make me angry, but you can't take them so seriously. Polar bears live alone in the wild; I see no logical reason why this bear should be killed."
He also argued that given the increased rarity of polar bears in the wild, it makes sense to keep them alive in captivity so that they can be bred.
(same polar bear costume)
