Interesting. My guess is that no one is going to let anyone shoot this bear. That knowledge allows me to step back a little and consider some points:
- I'm all for letting animals do their thing. I'm not a huge fan of any situation in which wild animals are held captive*, but I appreciate zoos that at least try to replicate natural environments and that do not let their human workers ever come into close contact with the animals. There are a lot of extraordinary beings in the world that many of us would never get to see if zoos did not exist. My hope is that zoo patrons gain some respect for other living things when they see these animals, respect they might not otherwise find if not confronted with living, breathing proof that humans aren't the only complex, intelligent, and/or beautiful beings on Earth.
- Anyway, with the above point in mind, once animals are put in the zoo, it's my belief that the people who run the zoo take over the responsibility for the well-being of those animals. Sure, if a polar bear neglects her cub in the wild, the cub might die. But what if another polar bear mom takes it under her wing? What if the polar bear mom in this case would never have behaved this way toward Knut had she not been stressed by something that was maybe going on in the zoo that day or that week? And P.S.: if the zookeepers didn't give these animals food everyday (thus "interfering with nature") then they would all die. Does that mean they should stop feeding the bears?
- Finally (and I'm borrowing from something Chrissymine said about this), translate this to humans for a second. There have been many instances (I'm not making this up) of "feral children" being found all over the world. One thing many of these kids have in common is that their parents completely neglected them. Another common thread is that, in the children's searches for warmth/food/protection, they found ANIMALS who, essentially, ended up raising the kids. It seems that the animals that usually do this are canids (dogs, wolves, etc.), but this shows us that, in nature, things have a way of working themselves out when the circumstances are right. In the case of Knut the polar bear, the circumstances are such that people are around to pick up the slack left by his mother. So, NATURALLY, the humans should do so.
*In fact, I get a sort of thrill when I hear about captive zoo or circus animals who go berserk and attack their handlers. Because seriously y'all, tigers weren't meant to jump through hoops. It's extremely unfortunate, however, that when these animals behave like this--you know, LIKE THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO--they are often shot. People are bastards.
Go here to see Knut (get ready for a truckload of cute!):
http://www.ifilm.com/video/2834484
Go here to see Stephen Colbert pretending to hate bears even though Knut is the CUTEST THING EVER:
http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/?ml_video=84023
(Sorry for the links. I can't get anything to embed today for some reason).
