Michael Jackson shrugged off the controversy over his appearance on a Berlin hotel balcony by visiting the city's zoo with his two other children.

The 44-year-old singer found himself in the critics' firing line by appearing to nearly drop his baby son, Prince Michael II, from his hotel window on Tuesday.

The infant's face was covered by a towel - with reports claiming he took the precaution in case the child became a target for kidnappers.

On his trip to the zoo on Wednesday, his two other children, five-year-old Prince Michael and Paris, four, had their faces covered in burgundy-coloured scarves.

The children were born during his short marriage to Debbie Rowe, which ended in 1999. Little is known about the parentage of his newest child, who is thought to be nine months old.

Later that night he attended a celebrity auction for homeless children, where a silver-studded jacket that he wore to receive the Artist of the Century title at last January's American Music Awards was sold for 16,000 euros (�10,181) to German songwriter Ralph Siegel.

While critics say Jackson's recording career is on the wane, his visit to Berlin has caused a sensation - overshadowing Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry's visit to promote the new James Bond film, and a promotional tour by Robbie Williams.