US newsMovie bear kills trainer
A grizzly bear that has starred in Hollywood films including Will Ferrell's latest comedy has attacked and killed its trainer.
Rocky, a 360kg male grizzly aged five years, bit Stephan Miller on the neck during filming at an animal training centre in California.
Miller's cousin, Randy, who set up the centre, said the bite occurred during "playful" wrestling by what was a "loving, affectionate, friendly, safe bear".
"It hit him in a very vulnerable spot," Randy Miller told the Associated Press. "It happened so fast. We did what we had to do to stop the bear. It took a matter of seconds to get him off, but it was too late."
Pepper spray was used to subdue the bear and paramedics arrived shortly afterwards but could not revive Miller.
Rocky was being filmed for a promotional video for the Predators in Action centre in the San Bernardino Mountains at the time.
The centre's animals have appeared in some of Hollywood's biggest films including Gladiator and The Last Samurai. It was set up by Randy Miller to train wild animals to perform, and to recreate animal attacks for Discovery Channel and National Geographic documentaries.
One of its stunts is a reconstruction of the illusionist Roy Horn being mauled by a tiger during a Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas.
"I'm not blaming the animal," Miller said. "We're fast and efficient if there's a problem. These kinds of scenes I do, we're putting ourselves in a vulnerable position a lot."
In 1999, Randy Miller came under fire from animal rights groups for arranging a wrestling match between an Alaskan grizzly and a weightlifter.
Rocky's fate has not been decided. Because the attack was on a private site it is outside the jurisdiction of state authorities, which would otherwise have had the power to destroy the bear.
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