Necropsy: Polar bear Knut died of drowning

Results of the necropsy (animal autopsy) done on Knut, the 4-year-old polar bear found dead in his enclosure last month in Germany, indicate that the beloved animal drowned.

Tests show Knut’s suffered from some swelling to the brain, likely due to an infection he had been ill with for some time, and that the encephalitis may have precipitated his drowning death. The infection was likely viral, said Achim Gruber, professor of veterinary medicine at Berlin’s Free University:

“We believe that this suspected infection must already have been there for a long time … at least several weeks, possibly months,” Gruber said, although he added that there had been no sign of anything amiss in the bear’s behavior.

Knut fell into the water in the enclosure in front of several zoo visitors, and water was found in his lungs, supporting the idea he drowned. But even had he been intercepted, pathologist Claudia Szentiks said the inflammation in his brain alone would have killed him:

“Given the massive scale of the inflammation, Knut would probably have died sooner or later — it wouldn’t really have been possible to save him.”

Knut rose to media fame after his 2006 birth at the zoo, and zoo officials may allow his remains to be stuffed and displayed at a museum.