Environmental Protection, Germany

After some absence, again, here I am back for one not so common letter, but I realized this FDC is something I've been wanting to post for a long while, and it is a very dear one to me, so here is the perfect occasion.

Issued on April 10th, 2008 by Deutsche Post, commemorating the International Polar Year, and raising the awareness for the environmental issues, it was Knut, the polar bear who was featured on this stamp.
I dont know how many of you are familiar with Knut, but I found out about him thanks to Postcrossing and fell in love with this creature right-away. Firstly, cos I simply adore animals, esp. fluffy ones. Second, the story about Knut was something that had touched the hearts of many... and unfortunately his death, even more.

Knut was an orphaned polar bear born in captivity at the Berlin Zoological Garden. Rejected by his mother at birth, he was raised by zookeepers. He was the first polar bear cub to survive past infancy at the Berlin Zoo in more than 30 years. At one time the subject of international controversy, he became a tourist attraction and commercial success.

After the German tabloid newspaper Bild ran a quote from an animal rights activist that decried keeping the cub in captivity, fans worldwide rallied in support of his being hand-raised by humans. Children protested outside the zoo, and e-mails and letters expressing sympathy for the cub's life were sent from around the world.
 Knut became the center of a mass media phenomenon dubbed "Knutmania" that spanned the globe and spawned toys, media specials, DVDs, and books. Because of this, the cub was largely responsible for a significant increase in revenue, estimated at about €5 million, at the Berlin Zoo in 2007.

Attendance figures for the year increased by an estimated 30 percent, making it the most profitable year in its 163-year history.
On 19 March 2011, Knut unexpectedly died at the age of four. His death was caused by drowning after he collapsed into his enclosure's pool while suffering from Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.

Now, I am in general against keeping animals in captivity and at ZOOs esp. in poor ZOO conditions like the one here in Skopje. And on one hand I feel sorry Knut had to be kept in captivity, but with all this recognition he had received, I believe he got the utmost care.

I remember the day he died, it was all over the media, and it was really sad. Strange how people can get attached to animals they dont know but which have become famous for one reason or another (currently I actually have two cats dear to my heart, which have received international acclaim, one is Bob, the other is Nala). While Bob has been around for quite a while, Nala appeared not so long ago, but I loved her instantly. There is just something special about the way these two felines had entered these two guys' lives. Funny, it is always guys in the stories. And probably a reason more why these stories become so popular... you know, guys showing their soft side, taking care of stray cats.

So that would be my letter K for today. Hopefully, I avoided scolding too since I fulfilled my duty :D

Check out more K's here