QUIRKY WORLD ... Mother bear of Knut put down after serious illness

GERMANY: The aging mother of Knut, the famous hand-reared polar bear who captured German hearts and the world’s attention in his short life, was put down at Berlin Zoo yesterday because it was said she was blind, deaf, and suffering.

Tosca, who rejected her cub Knut at birth in 2006, was nearly 30 years old, the zoo said.

Knut, who died aged 4 in 2011 from an epileptic fit, became the zoo’s star attraction after Tosca rejected him at birth. That would have normally meant death but the cub was saved against the odds and reared by zookeeper Thomas Doerflein.