Cloud the Kung Fu Bear from Hiroshima Becomes YouTube Hit!

Video of an Asian black bear showing off his Kung Fu moves was uploaded on YouTube last summer by a Canadian YouTube user. Since then, there's been a lot of speculation on whether the amazing footage - showing the bear rapidly twirling a stick, even throwing it into the air mid-twirl and catching it - is fake or real. So last week, the same person posted an unedited version of the footage with the original audio to prove it's real.

The bear happens to be Cloud from Asa Zoo in Hiroshima. Apparently he's famous for his stick-twirling tricks and has been even featured on news shows in Japan. His moves are definitely real, awe-inspiring and so cute it makes you smile.

Video and pics after the cut!
YouTube - Kung Fu Bear (BEST FOOTAGE!) - ORIGINAL

Cloud finds a stick.

And starts showing his tricks. Nice song, by the way (it's Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas).

He even throws the stick mid-twirl into the air and catches it.

Is he the reincarnated Bruce Lee or was he trained by Chuck Norris? The amazing thing is, he taught himself the tricks while idly playing with sticks, according to the zoo's website.

Cloud hadn't shown his Kung Fu moves since last autumn, but he started practicing his moves again this year right after the season's opener of Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Maybe he's a great fan of baseball.

Here's the unedited footage with original audio.
YouTube - Kung Fu Bear- Unedited Footage(NOT FAKE!)-ORIGINAL

Cloud is a playful, sunny-natured bear who seems to love the attention he gets as the star of the zoo (he allegedly performs his Kung Fu more often when there's a huge crowd to show off to). But like many animals living in the zoo, he has a tragic past: in 2002 Cloud and his mother was caught in a trap intended for wild boar in a mountainous area 70km (44 miles) from central Hiroshima. The mother bear was so agitated that it had to be shot down, and Cloud, who was only a little cub weighing 13kg (28 lbs) back then, was taken in by the zoo since he couldn't have survived on his own.

"Cloud is forced to live in the zoo as a consequence of human activities interfering with wildlife. We'd like to put effort in conserving the threatened species" says Jun Hatase, keeper at Asa Zoo.