Flocke - Fame

Fame

Less than a week after Vera's cub was removed from the polar bear enclosure, the zoo dedicated a website to the cub. It provided frequent updates on her health and development, as well as exclusive photographs and videos. The website also showcased a competition in which fans could vote for the cub's name. The official name was announced on 18 January 2008 by Ulrich Maly, mayor of Nuremberg, and broadcast live on television. Despite the overwhelming number of e-mailed suggestions from across the world (including "Stella", "Knutschi", "Sissi" and "Yuki Chan"), the zoo officially named her Flocke, German for "flake", as in "snowflake". "Flocke", used widely by the media previous to her official naming, was the nickname originally given to her by zookeepers because of her white fur.

Flocke's growth was carefully reported by the media during her first few months. Four zookeepers took turns bottle-feeding the cub with 140 milliliters of artificial milk every four hours and news of her eyes opening for the first time made headlines a few days before she was officially named. At five weeks old, she was referred to by the publication Bild as "Mrs. Knut", suggesting that the two German-born polar bears might become mates when they mature. As she grew, Flocke's diet was enriched with dog food, and boiled bones were supplied for her to chew on when she was three months old. She was soon taken to the zoo's beginners' pool to practice her swimming skills. The zoo had previously stated that they were seeking another orphaned polar or brown bear cub to raise alongside Flocke in order to improve her development.

On 8 April 2008, Flocke made her first public appearance in the polar bear enclosure that had once been home to Vilma; the adult polar bear had been relocated to another zoo. The four-month-old cub was greeted by more than 160 journalists and a half-dozen international camera crews on the first day. During the first week, Flocke was displayed for short intervals with breaks at midday. Expecting a peak of 20,000 visitors, the zoo built a viewing platform, capable of holding 500 people at a time, in front of the enclosure, but attendance by zoo patrons was initially lower than expected. The zoo uses a video transmission and recording system from Bosch Security Systems to transmit TV-quality live images of the cub to a pair of 46-inch (1,200 mm) large-format screens. This system, which includes one screen outside the enclosure, was implemented to help the zoo meet the demands of visitors wanting to catch a glimpse of Flocke.

Shortly after her debut, however, Flocke became the focus of controversy when prominent animal conservationist Jürgen Ortmüller, chairman of the Whale and Dolphin Protection Forum, hired a lawyer to stop Nuremberg Zoo's exploitation of the polar bear cub. Claiming that Flocke's public exposure would have damaging effects and that the zoo was only concerned about earning money, Ortmüller recruited high-profile lawyer Rolf Bossi to challenge them in court.