By now everyone probably knows who Knut is, the animal fanatics definitely do. Knut is a rather cute young polar bear that was rejected by his mother at birth, along with his twin brother. Sadly, Knut’s twin brother died at the age of 4 days while Knut was in intensive care for 45 days. Knut’s trainer, Thomas Doerflein, is highly attached to Knut and used to hand feed him with a bottle and even slept with him every night. This raised concern by an activist who wanted the zoo to put Knut down however after Knut caught the eye of people across the globe, he changed his mind. On March 23rd, the little ball of fur was unveiled to the public and ever since then people have fallen in love with Knut. For those who may not know as much about Knut, here is a video that sheds some light upon the little fellow the day after he made his first public appearance.

Ever since Knut has made his appearance the zoo has seen a doubling in visitors (now at around 350,000) and the gate receipts totaling almost $1.4 million, and not to forget $400,000 in Knut merchandise. A nonprofit organization by the name of Zoologischer Garten Berlin has licensed the Knut brand which will help generate money, most of which will be donated towards nature conservation and environmental research. According to Business week:

Inquiries already have poured in from the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, and China. One brand consultant figures revenues from Knut licensing could hit $14 million. Aside from stuffed animals, Knut candies, and packaged hotel tours, there’s already a Knut DVD, plans for several Knut books—including one from Scholastic (SCHL) aimed at educating children about global warming—and talks under way about a potential Knut musical and movie.

But now, as time passes by Knut is losing his cuteness and that could mean that the Knut brand may not be as well of as it once was. The zoo states that “Knut” was just to raise awareness for nature conservation and for people to realize that polar bears are endangered animals. Knut has successfully used his looks to raise awareness but as he grows older, sources say that his cute looks are wearing out and that Knut’s presence that caused a rise in business at the Berlin zoo is going to gradually slow down. Here is a video of Knut in May, about 6 weeks after his first public appearance in March.

I hope that Knut has raised awareness regarding the matter of nature conservation and animal protection but looking at the business aspect, Knut definitely helped the Berlin Zoo gain some much needed attention, if not financial proceeds.

For more pictures and videos of Knut visit Knut’s website that has Knut’s blog, videos and podcast.