Berlin Zoological Garden

This guide to Berlin Zoological Garden follows Knut, a polar bear cub abandoned by his mother in December 2006 and hand-raised around the clock by keeper Thomas Dorflein after zoo staff chose to save him rather than let nature take its course. It traces the backlash from an animal rights activist who argued the cub should be put down, and the wave of public attention that followed as crowds came to watch Dorflein carry Knut around the enclosure. Along the way it touches the zoo's own history, founded in 1844, and the record season Knut's fame brought it.