Infrared Pictures of Knut And His Personal Zoo keeper Banned
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Fans were worried about Knut with the rising temperatures so the zoo had infrared pictures taken to see if he was okay. He is fine they say, however, Knut’s personal zoo keeper, Thomas Doerflein, has been asked to stop doing the twice daily showings with Knut. That’s because 7-month old Knut now weighs 110 lbs. and could be possible danger to Doerflein, who hand-raised Knut from birth.
Knut, who will begin learning to associate with other bears, will have the enclosure all to himself. He will continue to be available for fans. So far, Knut has received over 1 million visitors since early this year.
Here are some of the infrared pictures taken of Knut:
The orange color shows Knut’s temperature at around 32 degrees C.
Berlin Zoo researcher Rudolf Reinhard told Der Spiegel magazine that polar bears regulate their body heat like dogs, sweating through their nose and mouth.The photos of Knut indicated that even in the heat his body surface temperature was only 32C.
The report said the photographer, building physicist Thomas Zimmerman, was allowed to snap shots of the bear because he’s researching how baby animals regulate their body heat.
Dr Zimmerman told the tabloid Bild that Knut is “well insulated”, and that the same polar bear insulation that retains heat in winter works to keep it out during summer.
So, although Knut seems to be growing and playing fine in the warmer temperatures, it will take a while I’m sure for him to get over his friendship with Doerflein. When he was smaller, he would cry out for his zoo keeper when left alone. We’ll have to see how long this adjustment takes him. Yes, he is a polar bear, but Doerflein was his mother since birth. It won’t be as easy I suspect as people might think. Doerflein says he will be around and that it won’t be a quick thing. They will go about the separation slowly to make sure Knut is okay. Here’s a reminder of how small he was when Doeflein nursed him..
Personally, I think Doerflein will take the longer of the two to get use to the separation. It’s hard to let your “child” go.
Bear hugs,
Frankie
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P.P.S. If you want to know what you can do to protect polar bears and other endangered species, contact The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) at http://www.nwf.org/polarbear
