TODAY'S NEWS

French Bread Off-Limits To German Polar Bear

· No more French baked goods for Knut the polar bear. The world-famous cub is being put on a diet at the zoo in Berlin, Germany.

Now 8 months old, Knut weighs 132 pounds. If he lived outdoors, this wouldn't be such a problem. "He would simply build up his fat reserves for the winter," said Andreas Ochs, a veterinarian at the zoo. But in captivity Knut won't need to fend off a grim winter.

Knut, who now eats a porridge of milk, meat, cod liver oil and vitamin supplements, will soon graduate to fish and solid meat.

But his four daily meals will be trimmed to three. And extras such as buttery French croissants will need to be dropped, Ochs said.

The cub might find it difficult to give up his snacks. "Knut likes to nibble in between meals," said Thomas Doerflein, his keeper.

Knut and his brother were rejected by their mother at birth. The other cub died within a few days. Doerflein and others at the zoo raised Knut.