From Spiegel Online:
Knut the polar bear got his one-millionth visitor today at the Berlin Zoo.
Bear-lovers from all around the world have made the pilgrimage to see the orphaned bear since he went on show to the public in March.
The lucky millionth visitors were a couple from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Ilja and Vincent Arends. "It's our first time in Berlin and to get such an honor and a stroke of luck!" Vincent enthused. As a prize the couple, who had bought their entrance tickets on the stroke of noon, got a gift basket from the zoo, containing a soft toy version of Knut and other goodies.
As usual, Knut appeared completely unfazed by all the attention - happy to just play and wrestle with his loyal carergiver Thomas Dörflein, who has raised the bear by hand since he was born in December.
But, the seven-month old's glory days may already be behind him. Dörflein said in an interview with the daily Der Tagesspiegel published Thursday that Knut's public appearances with his trainer would soon be brought to an end. He told the paper that his boss, zoo director Bernhard Blaszkiewitz, had told him that "it will be the end of the Knut show in a few weeks." Visitors to the zoo have enjoyed watching Thomas and Knut play together in two hour-long shows each day since March. Soon, Knut will be on display just like any other bear at the zoo.
Tabloid Bild speculated that the Knut show might be cancelled as early as next week. The newspaper reported Thursday that the security staff who are currently responsible for crowd control will no longer be present as of this Sunday. The barriers which have been used to contain onlookers are also being dismantled.
Dörflein said that he would still be together with Knut behind the scenes for a while yet. "For me there won't be any separation just yet," he told Der Tagesspiegel.
He said that his relationship with his girlfriend has survived the intensive few months looking after Knut. "We have even moved in together now," he said. He described the interest from his many female fans as "unbelievable," admitting that his desk was covered with "love letters from around the world with songs and poems."
Dörflein expressed a certain nostalgia for Knut's infancy, saying he liked to watch the videos of when Knut was younger. "You forget so much," he said.
The process of weaning Knut off his human step-father and encouraging him to be more independent is going well, Dörflein said. However he said that if Knut were to go and live with a female bear of the same age in another zoo in the future, then he would not go to visit him. "If he smelt my scent, it would cause him suffering," he said. "I wouldn't do that to him, or to myself."
He said that he would not want to raise another bear for the moment. "At the moment I'm burned out," he confessed. "I would do it again if I got my own apartment in the zoo. But there'll never be anything like Knut again."
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