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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Actually, it's all Bill Clinton's fault. Or maybe Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's
Posted by Jill | 9:51 PM
Oh, good grief:

He may look cute and cuddly but Knut, the world’s most famous polar bear cub, stands accused of conspiracy to murder.

As thousands of wellwishers flocked to Berlin Zoo to coo and sigh over his antics, few were aware of the tragedy that unfolded only a cage or two away. Yan Yan, the zoo’s most popular resident until Knut’s arrival, died suddenly aged 22.

A gift from the Chinese leadership to Helmut Kohl, the former German Chancellor, Yan Yan spent much of her time lying on her back chomping at bamboo shoots and was, by all accounts, a happy panda. Heinrich Kloes, the zoo’s chief bear curator, said there that had been no signs of illness.

But something changed on Monday, days after Knut’s introduction to tumultuous crowds, and Yan Yan lay down and died. The cause of death has yet to be determined but already fingers are being pointed at three-month-old Knut.

The mass circulation Bild newspaper does not believe in coincidences. “Panda Yan Yan dies in Berlin Zoo”, said its front-page headline. “Because of Knut?”

Up to 30,000 people a day have been queueing for a glimpse of the cub, who has been bottle-fed by keepers since his mother, a surly ex-East German circus animal, rejected him.

As many visitors were unable to see Knut through the crowds, they moved on to pay their respects to Yan Yan. Flashbulbs popped from dawn to dusk. That, according to Bild, may have been too much for Yan Yan to bear. “She seemed restless and intimidated,” the newspaper said. The verdict: fatal stress induced by Knut, or at least by his fans.

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