Isn't he cute?

I just read the story on Yahoo! News -- "Move over Britney and Paris, Knut the polar bear is becoming an Internet sensation." Well, thank God something is overshadowing people's obsession with the likes of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. (No matter how long I ponder it, I will never understand why so many people in the world are obsessed with celebrities who have nothing to do but make a mess of their lives.)

So I was intrigued by this Yahoo! story, and I browsed through the 75 -- yes 75 -- photos of Knut, the white fluffy bear who's causing quite a media circus in Germany and elsewhere. Evidently the little guy was rejected by his mother and had to be hand-fed by zookeepers. In a few short weeks -- he was only introduced to his "public" in March -- he has become an international celebrity. He's the topic of talk shows, songs, marketing campaigns, etc. Hundreds of Germans line up at the Berlin Zoo every day to get a glimpse of him. (It's good to know Americans aren't the only ones who go ga-ga over things like baby polar bears.) It doesn't surprise me. People are enthralled with stories about animals. They're more protective of animals than their own kids. I remember a story I reported several years ago about a dog that was shot after trying to attack an animal control officer. The photo that ran with my story showed the dog lying on the ground, a pool of blood next to it. The newspaper I worked for got more angry phone calls about that photo -- how dare we run such a graphic image of a poor animal -- than we did about more graphic photographs we'd run in the past of people involved in car crashes, etc. Hurt a person -- oh, well. Hurt an animal -- someone is going to pay.

Forgive me, I digress . . . I have to admit Knut is awfully cute. He looks like the polar bear stuffed animals I've seen at the Denver Zoo gift shop. Just think, kids -- a life-size version of the stuffed animal you have on your bed! Then I saw the photos of the adult-size polar bears (one of which is the newest member of the Denver Zoo family). One of these big guys is the largest carnivore in the world, according to the story I read. Ouch. You mean little Knut is going to grow into that?

Somehow I don't think the world's newest celebrity is going to last very long. You can tell he's growing -- and growing fast -- in the pictures taken just in the past few weeks. Oh, I know he'll be baby-sized for a while yet, but people won't be lining up to see him at the zoo forever. It's kind of sad, really. I'm not sad for Knut. Maybe he's hamming it up a little bit for his public -- just look at him wave and swim and roll around in his photo albums on the Web -- but he doesn't really know what a stir he's created. He won't profit from any endorsement deals or interviews on late-night talk shows. He'll see his own image on the T-shirt of one of his adoring fans, and the only question running through his mind will be, "When do I get some more food?"

No, I'm sad for the rest of us looking for something to entertain ourselves. We'll be back to Britney and Paris in no time.