bunneh

A 17-day-old ear-less bunny named Til, who was expected to become Germany's next celebrity animal a la Knut the polar bear and Paul the Psychic Octopus, died tragically this week when he was accidentally stepped on by a TV cameraman.

"No one could have foreseen this," said Uwe Dempewolf, director of the zoo in Limbach-Oberfrohna where Til was set to be unveiled in a special press conference. "Everyone here is upset. The cameraman was distraught."

Speaking with the German newspaper Bild, the cameraman said Til was hiding under some hay, which is why he didn't see him. Dempewolf offered that at least the bunny didn't suffer, as the cameraman's misstep was "a direct hit."

Zoo officials are now considering having Til stuffed so that he may be able to enjoy in death the fame he never got to know in life.

[telegraph / spiegel.]

Samantha, a 47-year-old western lowland gorilla at the Erie Zoo, has been all alone since her companion Rudy passed away in 2005. Zookeepers decided to try and alleviate her loneliness by giving her a pet: Panda the Dutch rabbit.

Initially cautious, the keepers introduced them in increments before leaving Panda alone with Samantha (keeping an escape hatch open just in case). But their concern quickly abated as the two took to each other right away.

Samantha's handlers say they aren't worried as she's never expressed anything but fondness toward Panda. Still, they say the bunny is more than capable of holding his own.

"He's fearless," says the zoo's chief executive, Scott Mitchell. "He's not threatened by her. More often they're closer together than they are farther apart."

[goerie / arbroath.]