Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions, images, and video that may be distressing to some readers.
Animal trainer Stephan Miller was engaged in filming a promotional video when a wrestling session with a bear turned tragic.
The 39-year-old was at his cousin’s animal training facility, Randy Miller’s Predators in Action, situated in the San Bernardino Mountains, east of Los Angeles. There, he attempted a wrestling stunt with a five-year-old bear named Rocky.
Although Stephan was not actively working as a trainer during the filming of the advertisement, he had previously worked at the center for several years before taking a break. Due to his experience with bears, Randy requested his assistance with the promo shoot.
Rocky, the bear, was already trained to interact with humans and had appeared in the 2008 film Semi-Pro, where it wrestled with Randy, who doubled for Will Ferrell in the movie.
Standing at 7.5 feet and weighing 700 pounds, Rocky had been trained to be ‘playful’ on command, as Randy explained to TODAY.com. Despite his training and the bond he had formed with Stephan, which included ‘talking to him and hanging out,’ things did not go as planned during the filming. Randy told ShareNow.com that all necessary precautions had been taken.
He stated: “We brought the bear out, we got the bear next to him, and the bear was supposed to start out next to him and then they would start the staged attack—the bear was supposed to take him out.”
“The bear basically, I think, caught him off guard.”
Rocky recalled the incident happened ‘so fast,’ with Rocky ultimately biting Stephan in the vulnerable area of his neck.
Randy and the team attempted to stop the bear using pepper spray, managing to get Rocky away from Stephan in ‘a matter of seconds.’
Sadly, even in that brief time, it was ‘too late,’ as the post mortem revealed Stephan died within minutes of the bite.
Paramedics arrived around 3:00 PM but were unable to revive Stephan Miller, according to a report by the Associated Press at the time.
The state Department of Fish and Game and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an investigation but did not make a decision regarding the euthanization of the bear.
After efforts from animal rights groups, it was decided that Rocky would not be euthanized, though he would no longer be allowed to work in TV and film or interact with anyone other than his trainers.
Eventually, Rocky was cleared to work again and was relocated to an animal sanctuary in California.
Miller expressed that he did not ‘blame the animal,’ given that their line of work involved placing themselves in ‘vulnerable positions.’ Hollywood filmmaker Nick Palumbo remarked: “Stephan was my best friend. Anybody who killed him I would want to kill, but I don’t believe the bear meant to hurt him.”