Cute Knut the Polar Bear is now 1 -- and Big

BERLIN, Dec. 5, 2007 — -- Knut, Berlin's famous polar bear, had his first birthday party today and about 700 visitors from all over Germany flocked to the zoo to join in.

The bear they came to see was no longer the cuddly little teddy bear romping with a soccer ball, but a 245-pound eating machine. But to Berliners, he was still cute little Knut.

"We came from Stuttgart," Reinhold Strecker told ABCNEWS.com. "I brought my wife and my mother-in-law here so we could celebrate Knut's birthday. My wife and my entire family are so fond of him and it's such fun to see him doing well. We've been following the news about him and I must say, just for a change, it's nothing but good news."

The cheerful crowd applauded when Knut was given his birthday cake made of boiled rice, bananas and raisins. A group of school kids sang "Happy birthday to Knut," turning this otherwise gray day into a celebrity party.

Nursery school teacher Marlees Pilgrim surprised her 18 kids with a visit to the zoo so they could join in the celebration. "Many of the kids have been to the zoo to visit Knut, and many kids know him well, but today is a special day not only for Knut, but also for the kids that have seen him grow over the summer."

Berlin zoo's director gave a little speech in which he reminded the visitors that it was not always easy raising the polar bear.

Knut and his twin brother were abandoned by their mother, Tosca, a grumpy 20-year-old bear, after they were born Dec. 5, 2006.

Keepers had scooped the cubs out of the bear's compound with a fishing net and placed both babies in an incubator.

Only Knut survived, and he was brought up as a pampered baby, fed with human milk and cod liver oil every half hour. When he was 4 months old, his keeper fed him chicken puree and vegetables. Later on, croissants and grapes became his favorite snacks.

That treatment brought complaints from animal rights campaigners who complained it was inappropriate to raise a polar bear by human hand.

One group even suggested it was a blatant violation of animal welfare and some animal rights activists called for the zoo to euthanize the baby bear with T61, a poison that kills in seconds.