Til, a two-week old earless bunny, seemed destined to become Germany's newest animal celebrity until a TV cameraman accidentally stepped on the bunny, instantly crushing him to death.

The unidentified cameraman was filming a story on the small zoo in Saxony as it prepared to present the 17-day-old bunny to the world at a press conference.

He says didn't see Til, who was covered with hay, when he took a step backward, Spiegel Online reports.

"He was immediately dead, he didn't suffer," zoo director Uwe Dempewolf tells the website for the magazine Der Spiegel. "It was a direct hit. No one could have foreseen this. Everyone here is upset. The cameraman was distraught."

Spiegel Online notes that earless rabbits are very rare and Til would have been a media sensation in Germany, which has a history of worshipping furry baby animals.

Til's body will now be frozen while zoo officials decide whether to have him stuffed.