Three experienced handlers were working with the bear at Randy Miller's Predatorsin Action facility when the bear bit 39-year-old Stephan Miller on the neck, said San BernardinoCounty sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers. Stephan Miller is Randy's cousin, she said.
The center's staff used pepper spray to subdue and contain the bear and there wereno other injuries, she said.
A county Fire Department traumatic injury response unit responded about 3 p.m., butcould not revive Miller.
The Department of Fish and Game will decide the bear's fate after an investigation,Tiffany Swantek, a spokeswoman for the Big Bear Sheriff's Station, told the San Bernardino Sun Tuesday.
Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Phelps said the bear was a 5-year-old male named Rocky. ThePredators in Action Web site says Rocky is 7 1/2 feet tall, weighs 700 pounds and appeared in ascene in Semi-Pro in which Will Ferrell's character wrestles a bear to promote his basketballteam.
Calls seeking comment from Randy Miller, a stuntman and operator of Predators inAction, were not immediately returned Tuesday night. Randy Miller doubled for Ferrell in thebear wrestling match, according to the center's site.
In a February interview, Randy Miller called Rocky "the best working bear in thebusiness," the San Bernardino Sun reported on its Web site Tuesday.
In the same article, Randy Miller also said, "If one of these animals gets a holdof your throat, you're finished," according to the paper.
The center, located in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, says ithas two grizzlies, and also trains lions, tigers, leopards, cougars and wolves for uses rangingfrom film and TV to advertising and education.
Randy Miller has 25 years of experience training animals and his facility has had aperfect safety record, according to the Web site.
It was not immediately known how long Rocky has been at the facility.
Randy Miller won a World Stunt Academy Award for his work wrestling tigers in the2000 blockbuster Gladiator and performed stunts with his animals in films like The Postman, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Last Samurai.
He also helped recreate animal attacks for National Geographic documentaries andthe Discovery Channel.
Denise Richards, who works with wild animals at Moonridge Zoo, a sanctuary forinjured and homeless wildlife in nearby Big Bear Lake, said trained animals that turn on theirhandlers are often destroyed.
"You can train them and use as many safety precautions as you can, but you're stilltaking a chance if you're putting yourself in contact with them," Richards said. "It's still a wildanimal. Even though it may appear that the bear attacked for no reason, there was a reason. I'msure Randy understands why it happened. They're not cold-blooded killers."
Native grizzly bears are extinct in California.
