Two weeks after the celebrity  polar bear Knut died unexpectedly, an autopsy report  shows that the immediate cause of death was drowning. It also reveals Knut was suffering from a brain disorder resulting in a seizure that led to his fall into the  water.
The four-year-old polar bear had been living at the at the Berlin zoo since birth and was a popular attraction. Just before his death  he  turned around in circles  in front of hundreds of zoo visitors, and then fell into the pool  in his enclosure  and  died. 
The final autopsy report determined  that a large amount of water was found in his lungs and  the immediate cause of his death was drowning, said  Achim Gruber, animal  pathologist of  Berlin’s Free University, at a news conference.  
The autopsy also  showed  that  Knut was suffering from  encephalitis, a  swelling and inflammation of the brain that can cause seizures, and  is the likely explanation for his collapse into the pool, according to experts who studied the report. Knut's encephalitis was the result of an undetermined infection that was probably caused by a virus, said Claudia Szentiks, lead pathologist of Knut's autopsy. Ruled out during the autopsy were causes of encephalitis such as rabies or a prion disease. 
Szentiks said, "Given the massive scale of the inflammation, Knut would probably have died sooner or later."
The zoo’s  original plan to stuff Knut  for display is being vigorously opposed by his fans, who have organized a "Stop the Stuffing of Knut" protest scheduled  for Saturday.

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Polar bear Knut's death linked to encephalitis