STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

tara t · Marc Jacobs

knut the polar bear

squishy · Coach

i understand where they're coming from (in the same vein as letting fires run their course in parks etc), but i agree... the zoo did the right thing.

can you imagine being that cutie's 'dad'? i heard he moved in to take care of him 24/7, and that knut follows him around. eeee!

ILoveChoo · Hermes

I dont really understand the story, but that bear is friggen cute!!!

halleybird · Hermes

I don't really get it either. I guess it's because they took him in when they weren't supposed to? I don't get euthanizing him. There are lots of polar bears in zoos, aren't there? As long as they keep him there, and can breed him, etc., what's wrong with that? Of course, I disagree with zoos fundamentally, but I can't imagine putting him down!

squishy · Coach

i think the animal rights activists were claiming that since the mother abandoned her cubs, they would've died in nature. the zoo/humans shouldn't have interfered and should've let him die along with his brother. this had happened to a sloth bear cub (abandoned by the mother), but the zookeepers took the lethal injection route instead.

now, though, they agree that since the zoo has taken over 'parenting' the cub, there's no point in euthanizing him.

Kelly · Hermes

I understand the basic premise of the story (that the mom abandoned the cub, the zoo workers started to parent it instead, and animal rights activists think it should die because it would've in nature.) But, the story was will super confusing. So much of it still didn't make any kind of sense to me. Did someone write that drunk? I don't think it's me, because even though I knew what the article was about it was still confusing.

Anyway, I don't think the polar bear should die. Since when are zoos the approximation of nature? I mean, the animals in the zoo *don't* live in nature. So why pretend that they do when a cub is abandoned? That cub had the fortune to be born in an environment where it could still live even though his mom wouldn't take care of him. I just don't understand - it seems that animal rights activists would be more concerned with putting animals back in the wild and not the zoo, rather than killing a baby polar bear. I really just don't see the logic in their argument.

luckylily · Gucci

ttara123 wrote:

I understand the basic premise of the story (that the mom abandoned the cub, the zoo workers started to parent it instead, and animal rights activists think it should die because it would've in nature.) But, the story was will super confusing. So much of it still didn't make any kind of sense to me. Did someone write that drunk? I don't think it's me, because even though I knew what the article was about it was still confusing.

Anyway, I don't think the polar bear should die. Since when are zoos the approximation of nature? I mean, the animals in the zoo *don't* live in nature. So why pretend that they do when a cub is abandoned? That cub had the fortune to be born in an environment where it could still live even though his mom wouldn't take care of him. I just don't understand - it seems that animal rights activists would be more concerned with putting animals back in the wild and not the zoo, rather than killing a baby polar bear. I really just don't see the logic in their argument.

Wait a minute! You are right, someone wrote that drunk. I thought I understood, but I didn't catch onto the fact that the bear was actually born at the zoo. I thought it was abandoned in nature and the zoo picked it up.

I agree w/ ttara. A zoo is not nature, and we shouldn't expect animals to respond as they do in nature. The mother may not have responded the same way had she been raising her cub in the appropriate environment. Polar bears, particularly, do not do well in zoos.

I have some internal conflict about zoos, but I think the zoo did the right thing in this case.

squishy · Coach

lol you guys are much more careful readers than i am.

i have to assume that the activist was misrepresented; he was foolish enough to speak in such convenient (and outrageous) sound bytes that they didn't really bother to delve deeper.

dangergirl · Kate Spade

i don't understand why it's wrong to care for a baby polar bear, i'm glad the zoo decided to look after him.

kenzie · Chanel

I definitely think that the zoo did the right thing. Why shouldn't the bear have a chance to live since he was born in a environment that allows for that? The bottom line is that he was born in a zoo, he wasn't born in nature, so the same rules don't apply. He's so cute, too!

XtinaStyles · Marc Jacobs

From what I understand, this story is rediculous. It sounds to me like people were getting crazy over the fact that this bear has gotten so much attention and media coverage. Sometimes I think people just want to jump on the bandwagon to get a quote in.

First, polar bears are on the verge of extinction, why would you want to kill one that is living?

Second, why would you kill anything that is living and is not a threat???

Third, we breed animals for eating, milking, cross pollinate plants........ all of which goes against nature. We have sex without giving birth.. I am wearing eyeliner.. these are all actions against nature, should we stop these things? I just don't understand the logic of that argument.

cinderella4282 · BCBG

This is what zoos do!!! Zoos work to breed animals that are on the brink of extinction and often take in wounded/abandoned animals in the wild. Although zoos are seen as a place to come and view animals, they do a lot behind the scenes to promote information on animals and to assist those breeds that are close to extinction.

To think that they should have allowed an innocent cub to die is sad. What is the point in that? All pictures and footages of Knut show a happy, inquisitive bear cub who loves lift. In fact it appears as though he likes being a star!