Newt Gingrich also happens to be an expert on tigers

Now we understand why Newt Gingrich was so sad about Knut the polar bear's death this weekend. The former House speaker is apparently a total softie when it comes to animals—a fact he has strangely left out of his talking points for his 2012 presidential bid.

Florida's WPBF-TV has footage of Gingrich randomly visiting the West Palm Beach zoo last month, where he was described as an "expert" on endangered tigers. Who knew?!

"People need to realize we are down to about 3,000 tigers left in the world, and that's all the different types of tigers," Gingrich explained, as he stood overlooking the zoo's tiger exhibit. "When you're talking about a Malayan tiger, you may be literally down in the hundreds."

A presidential candidate talking about the protecting endangered tigers? That's an unusual message on the campaign trail and perhaps a sign that Gingrich would offer a more nuanced campaign than expected.

You can watch the video of Gingrich's zoo visit here, courtesy WPBF.

(Photo of Gingrich with a Bengal tiger in 1996: Erik S. Lesser/AP)