Well, it seems that your reporter fell for a hoax by popular tabloid Bild. The whole story does in fact rest on a misquotation and has been thoroughly debunked in the FAZ newspaper here (unfortunately in German only).

In fact, Mr Albrecht was interviewed by Bild because he did file a charge against Berlin zoo for inappropriate handling of animals. But nowhere in this claim or in his statements is there any indication that he wants the zoo to really kill the bear.

The charge was filed referring to an earlier case in a Leipzig zoo where a bear cub was in fact put down because it would have been to be raised by humans. In this case, Albrecht had also filed a charge against the zoo's director, exactly because of the killing. The charge was thrown out of court because the judge followed the zoo's argument that hand-raising a wild animal would have been against the animal's nature.

So with the second charge Albrecht was trying to highlight what he considered to be the absurdity of Leipzig's claim. He did in fact say something to the tune of: "If that logic [the one used in the Leipzig case] was to apply then Berlin would have to put down its bear as well." But that, of course, is a completely different argument that what your reporter claims it to be.

Albrecht has clarified his position as early as February in an open letter to a Berlin newspaper (which is easily retrievable on the web). However, Bild continues with its version of the tale. Sadly, your reporter fell for it.
Posted by Knut on March 20, 2007 11:23 AM.