Here is our discovery of this week, a grizzly who is an expert in YOGA his name is Mikhail the amazing yoga bear - who astonishes visitors every day with his incredible stretching routine.
Mikhail was photographed performing his limbering-up exercises at Kaliningrad Zoo.
Sitting firmly on the ground, the huge grinning grizzly thrusts out his legs one at a time - just like a 'boat pose' in yoga.
Incredibly, he reaches out to grab his toes during each leg stretch and even takes the time to raise the opposite paw and wave to his fans.
And as the Russian crowd encourages him with food and drink, he keeps up the bizarre performance for almost five minutes.
Grizzly bears are not renowned for their ability to engage in the ancient art of Indian meditation but Mikhail has developed a reputation as an entertainer following his performances.
Bemused photographer Vitaly Arkhipov, who came upon the bear when he visited the zoo with his wife, said: 'This bear is a great actor.
'For some refreshments from visitors he does many interesting things. He likes to make different poses and he often bows or waves at the crowds.
'But this yoga session was completely unreal - especially considering he has had no training and has never been part of a circus.
'He is obviously just a natural performer.'
Mr Arkhipov, a keen photographer since he was old enough to buy his own camera, travels around Russia with his wife in tow taking photos.
Now retired, the former radio engineer from St. Petersburg added: 'I have photographed many things, but Mikhail was the most special.'
Despite Mikhail's cuddly appearance in these stunning pictures, the bear has previously found himself in hot water.
[gallery]
In 2009 he tried to escape from his enclosure after a pair of teenagers stole his dinner.
The pair were eventually caught by park rangers with some of Mikhail's steaks in a bag.
But that wasn't before Mikhail had tried to escape from his enclosure by smashing down a stone wall to retrieve his food.
0 comments:
Post a Comment