Blue Collar Scientist

The fine folks at the Skeptic Friends Network pointed out this story about the famous polar bear Knut - the baby polar bear who, last year, was the center of some controversy because animal-rights activists wanted Berlin Zoo to kill it:

The idea apparently was that being fed by a human was a fate worse than death for a baby polar bear. In any case, Berlin Zoo decided to give him a shot at life, and a year on, he’s a big, vigorous polar bear. And the Daily Mail thinks he isn’t so cute anymore.

Knut now weighs 22 stone and has six-inch claws and a fearsome set of fangs to match.

That works out to 308 pounds, or if you are living in a country that uses sensible units of measure, 140 kilograms. So apparently Knut has put on some weight - and as any veterinarian will tell you, this is a sign of a healthy, happy animal.

Unfortunately the reporting is not as healthy. The paper runs a photo of Knut giving a little kid a bit of dominance/aggression display. The reporter writes:

Fortunately for the youngster, six inches of glass capable of withstanding a mortar attack separated him from the jaws of the world’s most famous captive bear.

Normally I’d object that Binky is the most famous captive bear, but Binky is an ex-bear, so he probably doesn’t count. But looking at the picture of Knut’s enclosure, I just can’t believe that there is a six inch thickness of glass between the kid and the bear. There’s not nearly enough dispersion and refraction for that; it looks more like an inch or two at the most.

And mortar-proof glass? To hold back a bear? I’ll cop to the glass being shatter-resistant, and set up so that it won’t crumble when cracked or hit by shrapnel, but such glasses can still be penetrated by a high powered rifle bullet - at least the ones I know about. I expect a direct mortar attack would do considerably more damage, I would expect, considering that a mortar can put a hole in a concrete slab and seriously screw up jet aircraft.

But that’s not really the thrust of the article. It’s all about how Knut is a wild animal and no longer cute, cuddly, and harmless. Indeed, the headline reads:

Still think I’m cute? One year on, cuddly Knut has turned into a 22st killing machine

As they say, (sic). Just for the record, I’m living in the 21st century - but I’m not trying to impose anything like that on the rest of you.