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After Flocke, Wilbaer takes the limelight

Stuttgart's Wilhelma zoo presented 4-month-old Wilbaer to the public on Wednesday — bringing the fluffy cub outdoors alongside his mother, Corinna.
Image: Polar bear cub Wilbaer.
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.Michael Latz / AFP - Getty Images
/ Source: The Associated Press

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.

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' introduced to the public
epa01316073 Polar bear cub Wilbear (front) and its mother Corinna (back) frolick around in the polar bear enclosure of Wilhema zoo in Stuttgart, Germany, 16 April 2008. Wilbaer, born in December 2007, was introduced to the public 16 April 2008. EPA/RONALD WITTEKRonald Wittek / DPA

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.

Still, zoo officials say they have had his name — a combination of the zoo's name and the German for bear, "Baer" — registered as a trademark.