Is Knut a Polar Bear on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?

Americans have long harbored an unhealthy fascination with Hollywood child stars. From Shirley Temple to Britney Spears, Corey Feldman to Macaulay Culkin, those that have skyrocketed to fame prior to hitting puberty have faced an uphill battle, often dabbling in drug abuse, overexposure, and the attempt to resurrect their careers via terrifying reality TV shows. But is that phenomenon now taking hold of an entirely different species?

According to the Daily Mail, orphan and former cuteness-porn star Knut has let his child stardom go to his head. Markus Roebke, one of the Berlin Zoo's keepers, claims the larger-than-life polar bear (whose silver-screen debut comes this spring) is a "publicity-addicted psycho." Roebke adds, "he actually cries out or whimpers if he sees that there is not a spectator outside his enclosure ready to ooh and aah at him." Poor Knut. Looks like unless he wants to take the Corey Feldman route, he should do like Shirley Temple, quit the biz, and take to politics.