Look at that. Isn't it just adorable?
That's Knut from the Berlin Zoo. He was a newborn a few years back, and clearly his trainers were getting him ready for a life of dismembering his food.
Did you have any idea that about twenty years ago - in March of 1990 - a zookeeper at the Cincinnati Zoo had her hand and some of her forearms ripped off by a polar bear? (Source: Orlando Sentinal) She was later awarded $3.5 million because of the unsafe working conditions and improper training at the zoo. (Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer & Cincinnati Magazine) A coworker of hers was fired for reporting those unsafe working conditions to federal authorities but won a wrongful termination suit. (Source: lawyers' website)
As of 2002, the zookeeper, Laurie Stober, was running a program called Full Circle Therapy that helps to "build self-esteem and confidence for kids who have been abused, neglected or marginalized due to disability". (Source: Cincinnati Enquirer) The last online mention I can find of Stober's Full Circle Farm is in a National Alliance of Mental Illness of Hamilton County, Ohio newsletter from April, 2007.
So, how cute's your little Knut now, folks?
Ok, actually, he's still really cute.
1 comment:
I went to high school with Laurie. And, yes, I am quite familiar with the polar bear ripping her arm off and all the stuff that followed...
Laurie is an incredible person - she was in high school too. I was always pleased to see how she handled the situation and what she did with the money she was awarded.
The guy who did my wedding pics did hers too - before her arm was ripped off. She loves animals, the pic he had of her as advertisement in his office was one of her in her gown, veil, etc with her two golden retrievers laying on the grass playing. Adorable.
Post a Comment