A bear at a zoo in Hiroshima City, western Japan, is drawing applause from visitors with his performance of twirling a stick.
Claud, a male Asiatic black bear at Asa Zoo, began twirling a branch when he was playing with it 5 years ago. The zoo operator says that the bear stopped the twirling after he grew up but resumed it 2 months ago.
This day, he used his mouth to pick up a stick like a pole weighing about 5 kilograms - his recent favorite -- and handled it intensely with his hands, legs and neck.
Visitors said they were surprised to watch such a large bear handle the stick so skillfully.
His breeder said he doesn't know why the bear likes to twirl sticks but his performance is really powerful.
These silky skills could have levelled the playing field in Sonny Chiba's Karate Bearfighter and given the title a second meaning too. Of course we always knew bears can kick ass, but it is nice to see it for real.
Link (with another video news report) - Thanks Q
it still boggles me why we feel the need to keep such creatures in captivity.
Seems a smart bear though.
I would love to have a bear like this as the bodyguard to my house. Because not only would almost anyone be intimidated by him, but he would practice outside and I would watch him all the time.
http://www.oezicomix.com/stuff/kungfu.jpg
But I see a bear that is psycotic and stressed due to a small enviornment doing repetative behaviors for minutes/hours on end.
http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/biowissenschaften_chemie/bericht-12673.html explains what this bear is doing.
try google :)