Meet the Real-Life Kung Fu “Panda”!
The Telegraph reports that a video taken of a bear (not a panda) deftly swinging a large stick around like ninja turtle Donatello is in fact real and not doctored.
That’s Claude, an Asian black beer who resides at the Asa Zoo in Hiroshima, Japan. Two years ago Claude became an Internet superstar after a video of him twirling a stick in a Kung-fu-like fashion was broadcast on YouTube.
Upon the video’s initial release, there was much suspicion, as most viewers strongly believed that some sort of camera trick or fraud was in play. However, reporters from CNN, CBS and the Telegraph have all visited Claude and officially confirmed his talent.
It all started when the zookeepers at Asa Zoo began supplying Claud with 15-meter-long sticks to help quench his incessant boredom. Over the span of eight years, he apparently became quite adept at manipulating them like a kung-fu master.
During an interview with the Telegraph, animal behavior expert Professor Marc Bekoff from the University of Colorado said, “I would guess this is the result of extreme training and would find it hard to believe the animal taught itself this spontaneously.”
He added that the unnatural behavior likely came about as a result of extreme boredom.
Perhaps… but my dog is always bored, and she can’t even figure out to get the treat out her Kong toy!
By V Saxena on 30-06-2010
