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Hundreds of fans of Knut the polar bear flocked to his zoo enclosure on Sunday to mourn the sudden death of the celebrity who burst into the limelight as a cuddly, fluffy cub hand-fed by his keeper.
The beloved four-year-old died on Saturday afternoon in front of hundreds of visitors, taking keepers, animal experts and fans by surprise. The life expectancy of polar bear in the wild is between 15 and 20 years, but animals in captivity normally live even longer because they are not exposed to hunger, thirst or infections.
'I can't comprehend what happened there. He was happy before, there were no signs of anything - it's so shocking,' said fan Eveline Litowski, who said she had come to the zoo to find out more about Knut's early death.
Ms Litowski was among those who crowded around Knut's empty compound on Sunday, laying down red roses and white stuffed polar bears, lighting candles or putting up pictures of Knut with personal messages for him. Many children had drawn pictures of Knut or written farewell poems for their beloved bear.
Knut was rejected by his mother at birth, along with his twin brother, who only survived a couple of days. He attracted attention when his main caregiver, Thomas Doerflein, camped out at the zoo to give the button-eyed cub his bottle every two hours, and went on to appear on magazine covers, in a film and on mountains of merchandise.
Dozens of women known as die-hard Knut fans - some of whom reportedly even trued to hide in the zoo's spacious park to spent a whole night with him - had assembled in front of the bear's empty enclosure on Sunday afternoon. Many sobbed and shared their memories.
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