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Knut, Berlin Zoo’s famous polar bear, dies at age 4

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Knut, the polar bear who charmed millions as an adorable cub when a Berlin zookeeper hand-raised him after he was rejected by his mother, died Saturday. He was 4 years old.

Knut was reportedly alone in an outdoor enclosure -- he shared the space with three other bears, including his mother Tosca, all of whom were inside at the time -- when he ‘strolled around the enclosure, went into the water, had a short spasm and died,’ Heiner Kloes, a bear keeper at the Berlin Zoo, told the Associated Press.

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Zoogoers watched in horror until zoo staff fenced off the enclosure from view. ‘Everybody was asking, ‘What’s going on, why is Knut not moving?’ ‘ visitor Camilla Verde recalled to the AP. ‘All the zookeepers who put up the fences were so very sad. One of them said, ‘He was our baby.’ ‘

His exact cause of death is unknown, and a necropsy -- an animal autopsy -- is expected to be performed Monday. His death is especially troubling because of his young age. At 4, he was still essentially a teenager in human terms and hadn’t even reached his adult weight or sexual maturity yet.

For a seemingly healthy polar bear to die at age 4 is ‘a little bit surprising,’ Peter Ewins, an arctic species specialist for the World Wildlife Fund, told ABC News. ‘In captivity, polar bears can live longer than in the wild; to 25 or 30. Even more than 30 years old because they’re not exposed to the elements and hard realities of life in the wild.’

Fans of the famous bear -- who celebrated his 4th birthday with a large party and a cake shaped like the number 4 in December -- flocked to the Berlin Zoo after the news of his death, many leaving cards, flowers and stuffed animals at a makeshift memorial, the AP reported.

Thomas Doerflein, the keeper who raised Knut after his mother refused to care for him, died of a heart attack at age 44 in 2008.

A custody battle between the Berlin Zoo and another German zoo, the Neumünster Zoo, was resolved in 2009 with the former zoo agreeing to pay about $600,000 to the latter zoo in exchange for an agreement that Knut would remain in Berlin. Because Knut’s father Lars was a resident of Neumünster, the zoo had argued that it was entitled to a portion of Berlin’s Knut-related profits.

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MORE ABOUT KNUT’S LIFE:
Knut the polar bear meets his future roommate, gets slapped (2009)
Knut, beloved polar bear, has a run-in with a fan (2008)

-- Lindsay Barnett

Top photo: Knut at his first public appearance at the Berlin Zoo on March 23, 2007. Credit: Markus Schreiber / Associated Press

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