After Flocke, Wilbaer takes the limelight

Unlike hand-raised stars, this polar bear cub debuts with his mother

Michael Latz / AFP - Getty Images

Germany's third recent polar bear cub, Wilbaer is joined by his mother, Corinna, on his big day. Both Flocke, who debuted last week, and world famous (but older and not as cute) Knut are being hand-reared due to abusive and negligent moms, respectively.

updated 10:30 a.m. ET April 16, 2008

STUTTGART, Germany - German polar bear fans have another star to visit.

Stuttgart's Wilhelma zoo presented 4-month-old Wilbaer to the public on Wednesday — bringing the fluffy cub outdoors alongside his mother, Corinna.

Wilbaer's debut came just a week after the Nuremberg zoo presented its female cub, Flocke, who has been hand-raised since her mother was seen tossing the cub around her enclosure in January.

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No such worries for Wilbaer, who initially stuck close by his mother when he emerged on Wednesday.

The cub sniffed at rocks and tentatively stuck his front paws in the water, before eventually following his mother's lead and diving in.

Image: Polar bear cub Wilbaer
Ronald Wittek / EPA
Wilbear and Corinna frolick around an enclosure at the Wilhema zoo in Stuttgart, Germany.
Wilbaer was born on Dec. 10, a day before Flocke. However, the zoo only announced his birth at the end of February, citing the media frenzy that surrounded the Berlin zoo's hand-raised polar bear cub Knut last year as its reason for keeping the arrival under wraps at first.