A Star Is Born: Flocke's Big Day

PASSAU, Germany, April 8, 2008— -- A Hollywood movie star could not have asked for more publicity — more than 160 journalists and a half-dozen camera crews from all over the world have been flocking to Nuremberg Zoo for the 4-month-old polar bear cub's first public appearance today.

Flocke — or Flake, as in snowflake — was born last December and at first everything seemed to be just fine.

But then came the day in January when mother bear Vera was seen carrying her then 4-week-old cub around the enclosure and dropping it on the concrete floor several times, prompting concerns she could harm or even kill the cub.

Alarmed by Vera's agitated behavior, zoo officials decided to take the cub from its mother and raise it by hand.

Ever since, a team of four handlers has worked around the clock to take care of the polar bear, keeping her in a separate room, bottle feeding her every three hours with a mix of puppy food with milk.

Her diet was enriched with some dog food as she grew and developed an almost insatiable appetite. Boiled bones for her to chew on were added a couple of weeks ago, when she was three months old.

About 10 days ago, Flocke's keepers began to prepare the cuddly cub for her move to the polar bear compound.

"Flocke was very curious and ran through the grass," zoo veterinarian Bernhard Neurohr told reporters. "She snuffed everything her sensitive nose could detect. Her excursions took her to the water running though the compound, where she had a great time splashing about."

Polar bears are excellent swimmers. In fact, they can swim from the very beginning; they just don't know it and need to practice at first.

Flocke was taken to the zoo's beginners pool to practice and develop her swimming skills. She loved the water and it wasn't long before she could swim.

Flocke's very first trip outside of her "baby room" was successful and her keepers are confident that she will adopt her new living quarters in the polar bear enclosure in no time.