German zoo: 2nd polar bear twin dies

updated 4:17 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2008

FRANKFURT, Germany - Germany's Nuremberg zoo says a 3-week-old polar bear cub has died just days after its twin.

The first cub died Monday. The second cub appeared weak Friday and died around 2 p.m., the zoo said.

The bears were born last month to the mother of Flocke, the zoo's celebrity polar bear.

Flocke was rejected in December 2007 by her mother, Vera, and hand-raised.

Vera did not reject the two new cubs born Nov. 21 and had been raising them in seclusion under video surveillance.

The zoo said it did not yet know the cause of death. It had said cubs typically have about a 50 percent chance of survival.

Neither cub's body could be seen over the video surveillance system Saturday. The zoo said after the first cub died that Vera might have eaten it.

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