Bear fight: German zoos battle over Knut

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-19 22:37

Polar bear Knut, seen in his enclosure at the Berlin Zoo, Tuesday, May 19, 2009. [Agencies]

BERLIN -- A German court has told the Berlin and Neumuenster zoos to settle a price dispute over Knut, the polar bear who took the world spotlight as a fuzzy white fluffball.

The Berlin Zoo offered euro350,000 ($476,420) on Tuesday for the now grown 2-year-old bear. Neumuenster rejected that, insisting it wanted euro700,000 for Knut, the son of its polar bear, Lars.

The court ordered the two sides to agree by July 13.

Neumuenster is seeking to force the Berlin Zoo to openly state how much it has made in royalties from Knut, whose image has been reproduced in posters, books, a movie and countless stuffed toys.

Knut's fans boosted Berlin Zoo attendance by 27 percent in 2007 alone, bringing in some euro6.8 million.

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