Playful bear is a sensation with Kung Fu-style moves

A playful bear with a penchant for dancing and taking part in Kung Fu-style exercise routines has been causing a stir at a Siberian zoo. Pamir, a nine year old rare Himalayan white claw bear, has become a sensation with his ability to perform spinning tricks with a long stick and crawl through tires.

And while many of his cousins choose to hibernate over the winter months, he has been keeping himself busy learning new moves in his pen at Royev Ruchey Zoo in Krasnoyarsk.

A video recorded by Royev Ruchey zoo shows him spinning a wooden pole around his neck, in a Kung Fu-style. He also stands on his hind legs and swings a heavy tyre from side-to-side – as if performing an aerobic routine – before then squeezing himself through it, almost in a somersault.

'He has been playful since he was just a cub,' said one of the keepers. 'He also loves to play with plastic canisters and basketballs, and in the summer with a hose.'

Pamir is a rare white claw bear, a subspecies of the Asian brown bear which is native to the forests of the Central Asian Himalayas and Tian Shan mountain range. They are smaller and lighter with pale straw-coloured fur and long, almost white, claws.

Pamir arrived at Royev Ruchey at the age of just one in 2006 from a zoo in Ekaterinburg where he was born, and instantly became a local celebrity.

Known for being solitary animals, the bear kept himself entertained by trying to master clever skills and tricks almost from the moment he moved to Krasnoyarsk. At Halloween he also enjoyed playing with a pumpkin in his pen.