Knut the Psychobear

Remember Knut the cute little baby polar bear that some animal activists wanted to kill because his mother abandoned him? Well, Knut is all grown up and is turning into "psychobear":

BERLIN — Knut the polar bear has turned from a cuddly cub into a publicity-addicted psycho, one of his keepers has claimed.

Markus Roebke said Berlin Zoo's celebrity animal was obsessed with the limelight and howled with rage when denied an audience.

"Knut must go and the sooner the better," he said, insisting that the bear should be sent to an animal park where he received less attention

"He is addicted to the whole show, the human adulation. It is not healthy.

"He actually cries out or whimpers if he sees that there is not a spectator outside his enclosure ready to ooh and aah at him.

"When the zoo had to shut because of black ice everywhere he howled until staff members stood before him and calmed him down."

Knut was rejected by his mother after he was born in December 2006, prompting some animal activists to say it would be better for him to die than to be weaned by man.

The zoo let him live however and he has become a major attraction, pulling in millions of dollars in revenue so far.

Now Knut is bigger, the crowds are larger - and, his keeper warns, his mental health is deteriorating.

We all know what obsessive media attention did to Britney Spears. I guess it's not unrealistic to think it could happen to a polar bear too.