Zoos in court battle over Knut the polar bear

The Animal Park Neumuenster in northern Germany is suing Berlin Zoo for a share of the millions of euros generated by Knut after he shot to fame in 2007 and began drawing huge crowds and inspiring lucrative merchandise.

The Neumuenster zoo is home to Knut's father Lars and claims legal ownership of the star bear, now a strapping adult.

 20 May 2009

A Berlin judge today ordered two leading German zoos to resolve their dispute over who owns the rights to Knut, the headline-grabbing polar bear.

Knut is at the centre of a custody battle between the zoo where he lives and the zoo that legally owns him. Both claim they have a right to a share in the millions in revenue he has generated since his birth.

Neumünster originally lent Knut's father, Lars, to Berlin in 1999. In line with zoo etiquette, Lars's firstborn from his union with his partner Tosca was to belong to Neumünster. The zoo has argued it therefore has a right to a share in the spoils, or else it will demand custody of the bear.