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Death call for celebrity bear

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BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A celebrity in the animal kingdom, polar bear cub Knut is no stranger to TV cameras, visiting fans and posing for Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibovitz.

But the abandoned cub is facing demands that he be killed by lethal injection, as he has become too dependant on humans.

Animal rights activists in Germany have said that keeping the orphaned cub alive defies nature. When a cub is abandoned in the wild they fend for themselves and usually die.

Instead Knut -- or "Cute Knut," as the 8.7 kilogram (19 pound) bear has become known -- is pampered with comforts.

He is fed on a mixture of milk and chicken pure and sleeps every night with his teddy, Kuehne Ragnar a biologist at Berlin Zoo told CNN.

The head keeper likes to play guitar to Knut, sometimes serenading him with Elvis Presley tunes, he said.

"Knut understands some things. When the head keeper calls his name, he comes. Otherwise, he's like a little child. He has his own mind -- he's really a bear," said Ragnar.

The zoo's special treatment of Knut has raised the ire of some animal rights activists.

"Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws," animal rights activist Frank Albrecht was quoted as saying by the mass-circulation Bild daily.

"The zoo must kill the bear."

This view prompted quick condemnations from the zoo, politicians and other animal rights groups, according to The Associated Press.

"The killing of an animal has nothing to do with animal protection," said Wolfgang Apel, head of the German Federation for the Protection of Animals.

According to AP, Greens politician Undine Kurth called the suggestion "fully unacceptable."

The issue has provoked debate in Europe about the ethics of keeping animals alive in captivity when they otherwise may perish in the wild.

The German animal rights organization "Four Paws" have argued it would not be right to punish the cub for a bad decision made by the zoo.

Other activists have also argued that current treatment of the cub is inhumane and could lead to future difficulties interacting with fellow polar bears.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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