Saturday 12 July 2014

'Kung fu bear' filmed at Japanese zoo

An Asian black bear called Claude has become an internet hit after being filmed doing 'kung fu' moves with a stick.

The bear at the Asa Zoo in Hiroshima, Japan, has developed an ability to twirl a stick around his head giving him the nickname 'the Kung Fu Bear'.

The animal, thought to be a moon bear due to the distinctive white marking on his chest, was filmed spinning a 5ft-long stick around his paws, head and shoulders.

In the footage, the bear is first seen pushing the stick around before picking it up and spinning it around his head using his paws. At one point the bear even throws the rotating stick into the air and catches it.

The three-minute clip was captured by Canadian zoo visitor Alex Graham.

Mr Graham uploaded the original clip to YouTube a few days ago and since then the footage has gained momentum online. The unedited version of the clip plus a previous edited version have so far gained more than 800,000 hits.

There was initial doubt as to the authenticity of the clip. However, similar footage of the same bear two years ago shows the new footage could very well be genuine.

In the older footage, the bear is seen spinning another stick around although not as quickly or as controlled as in the most recent footage. Zoo keepers also explain how they discovered Claude's talent and how they encouraged him by giving him 15 metre-long sticks to play with.

Animal behaviour expert Professor Marc Bekoff from the University of Colorado said the footage was an amazing example of animal object control.

He said: "This goes beyond normal animal usage of complex tools but then again you can train seals to balance balls on their noses and train elephants to paint with their trunks, so why not this.

"I would guess this is the result of extreme training and would find it hard to believe the animal taught itself this spontaneously."

Professor Bekoff added that the bear's 'kung fu' moves were not natural and the bear must have been in a situation of extreme boredom.

The bear is believed to have arrived at the Asa Zoo in Hiroshima eight years ago after his mother was killed in a wood.

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