CUTE KNUT

Oh bless. It seems like celebrity uber-adorable polar bear cub Knut, now almost five months old, is gradually turning from a fluffy porridge-lapping cub into a bit of a handful - a bruiser with a penchant for meat off the bone. But the visitors are still flocking to see him.

Knut's days of extreme cuteness are numbered - his chubby little snout is getting longer and he weighs about 17 kilos (37 pounds) - twice as much as when he first appeared to his adoring public as a recsued baby.

"His teeth are sharper and he's stronger, he still gets porridge but we now feed him beef on the bone occasionally," says the zoo's bear expert Heiner Klös in an interview with SPIEGEL magazine.

"He's calmed down a bit, he doesn't potter around as much as he used to and he's happy to sit on his own more often. But he still wanders back to his keeper to tank up on security."

Knut's faithful handler Thomas Dörflein has taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts or pullovers and gloves to protect himself when he handles Knut. But the polar bear cub immediately obeys when Dörflein has had enough and tells him to stop biting him with the stern command "Aus!"

Dörflein also said that said Knut sees him as his father. "He has no other person to relate to, he has no alternative. Of course he sees me as that, that's why I'm the only one he sucks on. He simply has a need - not just because he wants to drink milk, he needs warmth."

Awwwhhh bless. For Knut fans, here's some links - and a photo for you.