Berlin's celebrity polar bear Knut has to move over again — not only has his Nuremburg counterpart Flocke stolen photographers' attention, but puzzles, games and a soft toy in the image of the fluffy 2-month-old cub are ready for release.
In the run-up to the Nuremburg Toy Fair, which opened Thursday, a number of manufacturers announced imminent plans to release the first line of toys featuring Flocke, the baby bear rescued from her mother by zookeepers on Jan. 8 amid concerns that she could harm or even kill the newborn.
The first products will be produced by the Fuerth-based firm Noris-Spiele, a unit of Georg Reulein GmbH & Co. KG, which plans to bring out a Flocke-based board game by the end of February, said company product manager Markus Weigand. By the end of March, Noris plans to release four jigsaw puzzles with motifs of the cub.
Around the same time, the Nuremburg-based manufacturer Creativ plans to release its own line of Flocke games, the company said.
In May, the manufacturer Steiff GmbH will begin selling a variety of Flocke stuffed animals, which spokeswoman Katrin Wachsmuth, said will not be mistaken for the company's already well known Knut teddy bears.
"You'll be able to tell that she's a girl," Wachsmuth said.
Steiff produces stuffed versions of Knut, who was also taken from his mother when she rejected him and raised by zookeepers in 2007, becoming a darling of the media and attracting thousands of fans.
All of the Flocke products will be manufactured in the region of southern Germany around Nuremburg — site of Flocke's zoo — and will feature the official Flocke logo, a polar bear baby sitting in a flower set against a blue background.
A percentage of proceeds from the products will benefit the Nuremburg Zoo.