Slap in the face for Polar bear Knut on first date

Sep 29, 2009, 13:00 GMT

Berlin - Being slapped in the face on your first date might not be a good omen, but it could signal the start of a beautiful friendship for Germany's star polar bear, Knut.

Knut took the blow like a man and after the initial shock got on well with his new girlfriend, Gianna, keepers at Berlin Zoo said.

Tuesday was the first time the new celebrity couple had been alone together since Gianna's arrival from Munich last week.

'It was very friendly and peaceful,' said chief keeper Heiner Kloes after the 90-minute date. 'As expected, Knut was quite shy,' but his new partner took the initiative, he added.

Several keepers were on hand in case the chemistry did not work and the couple became embroiled in a turf war in the bears' enclosure.

Knut, now a lumbering adolescent, was raised by zookeepers who bottle-fed him after after he was rejected by the mother at birth in December 2006.

He grew up fixated to humans and even waved to people taking photographs of him.

Klose said Knut was 'taken completely by surprise when he saw the female bear alone in his own enclosure' at 7:30 am, long before the zoo opened its gates to the public.

Officials plan to gradually increase the time the two bears spend together. Knut and Gianna, who are nearly aged 3, had already had a good sniff of each other at a fence separating their pens.

It will be a while before the couple could expect offspring, as they have not reached puberty. Polar bears do not reach sexual maturity until aged between 3-and-a-half and 5.

More than 8 million people have been to the zoo to see Knut, whose upbringing made headlines around the world. Officials are hoping his new girlfriend will pull in more visitors.