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Flocke is a polar bear cub who was born in captivity at the Nuremberg Zoo in 2007. A few weeks after her birth, she was removed from her mother's care after concerns were raised for her safety. Although the zoo had established a strict non-interference policy with its animals, officials chose to raise the cub by hand. This decision came at a time when the zoo was receiving negative attention from the media after another female polar bear reportedly ate her newly born cubs. Similar to the excitement around Knut, a captive-born and handraised polar bear at the Berlin Zoo, Flocke ("flake" in German) quickly became a media sensation. After she debuted to the public on 8 April 2008, her name was trademarked by the zoo and her image appeared on toys and in advertisements throughout the city. The zoo announced in May 2008 that United Nations Environment Program chief Achim Steiner would be Flocke's official patron with the hope of using the bear as an ambassador to encourage awareness of climate change. In late 2008, a Russian-born male polar bear named Rasputin was introduced to Flocke's enclosure in the hopes that she would gain valuable socializing skills with a member of her own species. A year later, it was announced that both bears would relocate to Marineland in southern France sometime in late-February 2010. (more...)

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February 15: Washington's Birthday/Presidents' Day in the United States (2010); Family Day in various regions of Canada (2010); Clean Monday/Start of Great Lent in Eastern Christianity (2010); Candlemas in Eastern Christianity; Flag Day in Canada; National Day in Serbia

• 1898 – The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana, Cuba (wreckage pictured), killing more than 260 people and precipitating the Spanish-American War.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: British cavalry under Major-General John French defeated Boer forces to end a 124-day siege of Kimberley, present-day South Africa.
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita captured Singapore, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in British history.
• 2003 – In one of the largest anti-war rallies in history, millions around the world in approximately 800 cities took part in protests against the impending invasion of Iraq.

More anniversaries: February 14 – February 15 – February 16