17-day-old bunny named Til was born in a small zoo in Saxony, Germany, with no ears. It gained popularity after newspapers in Germany wrote about it, and the zoo was about to present it to the world in a press conference.
It was supposed to be Til's glorious moment until ... a TV cameraman stepped on it, killing the animal celebrity instantly:
The cameraman told Bild newspaper he hadn't seen Til, who had buried himself in hay, when he took the fateful step backward Wednesday.
Zoo director Uwe Dempewolf told Spiegel magazine Til didn't suffer: "It was a direct hit." The magazine described him as "still shaken" as he spoke of the tragedy.
"No one could have foreseen this," he told the magazine. "Everyone here is upset. The cameraman was distraught."
Rabbits without ears are "pretty rare" he said. "The other five bunnies are right as rain. It is regrettable that he was the one who got stepped on."
Spiegel called the tragic bunny a "victim of the media".