DPA
Rostock
Eight years after Knut drew millions of visitors to the Berlin Zoo, the polar bear’s baby brother was christened yesterday at a zoo in the north-eastern German town of Rostock.
The cub, now four months old and living with his mother Vilma, was christened “Fiete” after nearly 3,000 name suggestions were submitted at the zoo.
Rostock Mayor Roland Methling, who has been named the cub’s godfather, conducted the christening by spraying the four-month-old cub with water from a fire hose.
The polar bear shares a father with Knut, the polar bear that drew millions to Berlin in 2007.
Knut was the zoo’s first polar bear to survive past infancy in three decades and quickly became a global sensation.
Knut died in 2011 from the after effects of a brain infection.
The christening was one of the new cub’s first public appearances since his birth on December 3.
Fiete, who now weighs 20kg, will remain with his mother for another two years.