Berlin Zoo puts down star polar bear cub Knut's ageing mother

BERLIN: The ageing 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 on Tuesday because it 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.