He was the world's cuddliest money-spinner - a snow white ball of fur that hundreds of thousands of people flocked to see.
But today, looking considerably dirtier and more down-at-heel after a roll in the earth, Knut the polar bear is facing eviction from his home at Berlin Zoo as the credit crunch bites.
Zoologists are concerned for his mental welfare and fear that because he only knows contact with humans he has developed psychopathic tendencies...