Berlin Zoo unveils new monument to celebrity polar bear Knut, who died last year

BERLIN – Fans of the late polar bear Knut packed the area around the Berlin Zoo enclosure where he died unexpectedly last year at the age of 4 for the dedication of a new monument to him.

Zoo director Bernhard Blaszkiewitz said Wednesday he hopes the bronze statue called "Knut the dreamer" will attract a lot of children like other such monuments to animals in the park.

Knut fan Jutta Geissler says the artist did a great job capturing the polar bear's personality and that "all the emotions for Knut are back again."

Knut was hand-raised after his mother rejected him. He rose to stardom in 2007 as a cuddly cub, appearing on magazine covers, in a film and on mountains of merchandise. He died in 2011 after suffering from encephalitis.