Predator Pets (2018) Season 1 Episode 6
Predator Pets (2018) Season 1 Episode 6
Predator Pets deals with some of the most ferocious predators on the planet. Wolves may be the ancestors of our most beloved house pet, but they're far from being an animal you can cuddle up with. The circus is now a controversial environment for exotic animals, but Australia's longest running family circus know that the Lion Tamer is still guaranteed to draw gasps from the crowd.
#documentary #animals
Predator Pets deals with some of the most ferocious predators on the planet. Wolves may be the ancestors of our most beloved house pet, but they're far from being an animal you can cuddle up with. The circus is now a controversial environment for exotic animals, but Australia's longest running family circus know that the Lion Tamer is still guaranteed to draw gasps from the crowd.
#documentary #animals
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00Humans have had a close relationship with animals for thousands of years.
00:26Scientists agree the domestic dog has been a trusted pet for around 15,000 years, and
00:31cats became part of the household from 10,000 years ago.
00:35And now it's estimated there are at least 600 million pet cats in the world.
00:41Exotic pets have also been kept for thousands of years.
00:46It's well documented that the Egyptians kept baboons as pets, and exotic animals kept in
00:51the home feature in many ancient texts.
00:55In modern times, the keeping of exotic pets has increased.
00:59A staggering statistic is that there are more tigers in the U.S. alone than there are in
01:04the wild.
01:09Animal owners truly believe they are playing a role in preserving the numbers of exotic
01:13animals.
01:14But on the other side of the debate, there are those who believe it is a cruel practice
01:19to keep any animals in captivity.
01:22This series explores the issues from both sides, from those who know the dangers, but
01:30see the benefits, to others who condemn the keeping of exotic pets.
01:35Their stories follow.
01:47They have a very strong compressive bite.
01:53They have the capacity to lacerate your skin and bite parts of you off.
02:08Wolves are natural predators, and working with them is not for the faint-hearted.
02:14Chris Eddington, from Steve Martin's Working Wildlife, trains wolves for film and television.
02:20We supply animals for the entertainment industry.
02:23I used to call it the film industry, but that's sort of antiquated.
02:26It's work in front of a camera, where someone is paying us to film an animal that's part
02:32of content that somebody else is selling.
02:36I would say 90% of the work that I personally do is in front of a camera that way.
02:41Mark, stay.
02:43Stay.
02:44Good boy.
02:46Depending on the economy, sometimes 10% of the work or more will be event-related.
02:53America's funny that people have disposable income and somebody occasionally wants a lion
02:58at their party, or a wolf, or a baby animal of some kind.
03:06These are gray or timber wolves, and name is interchangeable.
03:10They come in different colors, dark like these two, or gray like the other one who's
03:14wandering around.
03:15We have one that's sort of a lighter color, too.
03:18These particular guys, their bloodline is from North America.
03:23Chris's most famous animal pupils, starred in the iconic movie, Dances with Wolves.
03:29The movie's wolf character, Two Socks, was actually played by two different wolves, Buck
03:34and Teddy, who looked so similar, only their trainers could tell them apart.
03:39Those wolves lived here.
03:41The owner actually had to double the actor, Kevin Costner, for a couple of scenes where
03:45they interacted.
03:47This group of wolves here, we've done True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf.
03:53We did three seasons of Game of Thrones, and then a bunch of other movies.
04:01Chris has worked with a variety of dangerous animals, and while he makes them seem quite
04:05safe and friendly, wolves remain wild predators.
04:10I've enjoyed everything I work with.
04:12I work a little bit with our tiger.
04:14It's a solitary animal, and I like it, but I like these guys a lot.
04:18They give you love.
04:21All animals show some emotion, but wolves show love more than any other animal.
04:25You'd have to be devoid of a consciousness not to see that and see how they show that
04:29to you.
04:31It's quite wonderful.
04:33Hello, my love.
04:36Come on.
04:37Come here.
04:40Training wolves is about making the animals familiar with the human world, rather than
04:45teaching them clever tricks.
04:48Quite frankly, as an animal trainer, I find I don't spend so much time training an animal,
04:51but habituating it to the odd things that occur in society.
04:56And on a movie set, we have booms and flags and all sorts of things that aren't natural,
05:01so we have to get our animals used to that.
05:03We have to get them used to loading in a truck or a trailer or whatever cage if we have to
05:08go on an airplane, and we try to make that so it's normal and not stressful.
05:16Going into a pen with wolves is dangerous, and no matter how close an owner is to their
05:22animals, there will always be a risk.
05:26The two black guys here are a part of an older group.
05:34When we got them, we had a lot of film projects at the time, and they worked a lot, and we
05:40just happened to build a really good rapport.
05:43The other wolf, he's just two, and so he hasn't worked quite as much, and I don't have as
05:48good a rapport with him as these guys.
05:51I can still work with him.
05:52If a filmmaker wants to shoot with him, we'll go do whatever we have to, but these guys
05:58have known me better, and I've done more with them, and we've traveled more places.
06:02And they're older, too, so they know that I'm the source of fun more.
06:06He's a young punk.
06:07In a couple more years, he might be standing over here because he knows that the rubs are
06:11good and maybe we'll go for a walk out into the universe.
06:16Dog trainer and canine behavioral specialist, Michael Chill, is known for his expertise
06:21with wolves and wolf behavior.
06:24Dogs absolutely evolved from wolves, and they share 99.9% of the same genetic makeup.
06:30They can interbreed and make fertile offspring, so that's really, from a species perspective,
06:35that proves a close relation.
06:37Our adult dogs have the similar behavior to a five-month-old wolf.
06:41Our adult dogs are social with strange dogs, typically, are still eager to learn, have
06:48a prey drive, but not a serious enough one to really do that much hunting and killing.
06:52Our wolves evolve beyond that.
06:54Once they become adults, they will accept their own family members, but they're highly
06:58aggressive to outside wolves, with which they are unfamiliar.
07:01They are quite adept predators.
07:03They're highly territorial, so when we then go back to the wild to try to redo this and
07:08take a wild animal into captivity, we do not have, in a wolf, a dog with an exotic look.
07:15We have a wild predator.
07:19Despite the dangers, extreme animal owners often push the envelope.
07:24Hello, baby boy.
07:28And not only do R.C. and Sharon Bridges keep a bison as a pet, they also keep and breed
07:33wolves and wolf dogs.
07:37We do sell our wolves.
07:39We have so many people that really enjoy them, and a lot of them, they do make house
07:45pets out of them.
07:46We have lots of happy customers.
07:49One person said, you can't keep a wolf in the house, and Sharon replied back, we keep
07:53a buffalo in our house.
07:55Don't tell me we can't keep a wolf in the house.
07:58The most worried I was one time, we had wolf puppies.
08:01Of course, when they're born, the mamas are real protective of them.
08:05She'd come running, and I knew I was fixing to get tore up by her, because she'd been
08:09real aggressive toward me ever since she had the puppies.
08:12And when she'd come after me, they grabbed her and threw her on the ground and held her
08:16down.
08:17And then she was growling and stuff, but anyway, I just backed off and she was fine.
08:25Wolves live by a strict and ruthless social order, and owners must establish themselves
08:30as the pack leader, or risk a vicious alpha challenge.
08:36R.C., of course, as the dominant male of the family, he takes charge, and whenever he feels
08:48like he's comfortable with me jumping in, because he won't let me jump in and do anything
08:54without his okay first.
08:56The way we do them, we keep two to three in a pen, and we never have any problem with
09:01them.
09:02We do have an alpha problem occasionally, and I got rid of a female lately because she
09:08was causing too many fights.
09:13I raise these guys, and because of how I've worked with them, I think they view me as
09:17the top dog.
09:19They live in a sort of interesting structure.
09:21Biologists tell us that an alpha male and an alpha female will form, and basically what
09:26that means is the dominant pair will be the only one that will be allowed to breed.
09:31And nature is really cruel.
09:32Sometimes the other ones breed, but if they have a successful litter, the alpha male and
09:36female will just kill it.
09:38The way we raise them, these are very nice, but they're still, you can't take the jungle
09:44out of the boy.
09:50Nature designs them to be a certain way, and they're wild animals.
09:53Therein lies the difference between a domestic dog and this wolf.
09:57Even though this guy is just rolling on his back and rumming his belly, he's still a dangerous
10:01animal.
10:04With a bite that can break bones, wolves may look just like exotic dogs, but can they make
10:09good pets?
10:11I work with them all the time.
10:12I see them every day.
10:13No, they're horrible pets.
10:15I would never bring one to my house, because I know they would be enthralled by my leather
10:21couch, and they would perforate it with holes, they would rip up my carpet, they would tear
10:25down my blinds.
10:26I have faith that they would do that.
10:28I might be able to get them not to do that when I'm there, but if I walk away, I have
10:31faith that they will completely destroy everything when I'm not there.
10:35Conversely, when I've had domestic dogs, I train them so that I could trust them.
10:40We've basically trained our wild animals not only to behave, but just to be able to convey
10:44safely around society.
10:46But yeah, no, the wild animals I work with, I would never recommend having as a pet.
10:52Well, personally, for me, and R.C., both, for us, I think it's great.
11:00But with these kind of animals, it's not meant for just anybody to pick up and say, okay,
11:07I want to make them a pet.
11:08You have to be really dominant.
11:10You have to be their leader.
11:13If you're not going to be top charge, then no, then they're not going to be safe for
11:18a pet.
11:21In spite of the danger, many, including R.C. and Sharon, still believe that a hundred-pound
11:26predator can make a good house pet.
11:29We bring all the wolves in the house.
11:33We play with them, take pictures with them.
11:36Certain ones we'll let the grandkids play with.
11:40There's some of them that we won't let the grandkids play with.
11:44Ours make a good pet.
11:47Just like all animals, depending on how they're raised from the beginning, really, is what
11:52makes good pets.
11:56When I got in the wolf business, I thought I had a mean animal coming to me, and it wound
12:01up being the sweetest animal I've ever been around.
12:03And we always hear the stories about the big, bad wolf.
12:07They're just unbelievably a gentle animal.
12:10I do think they're dangerous when you let them run in a patch.
12:19I find you get what you put out.
12:21Conversely, if you have a child, a human, and you put it in a closet, and ten years
12:26later open the door, what are you going to have?
12:29If you have a bear, or a lion, or a wolf, and you raise it appropriately, and you get
12:35it used to the trappings of humanity, and you take it everywhere, and you teach it things,
12:40and you love it, you will have a great animal that's capable of safely operating with other
12:45people in human society.
12:48Don't let their looks deceive you.
12:50Wolves may resemble the family dog, but they are an apex predator, capable of taking down
12:56large prey and causing serious physical injury and even death.
13:02If you're going to house a wolf, and they were able to live in a wilderness area and
13:07come back to visit, but they certainly weren't put in a captive situation, that's kind of ideal.
13:13My wolves became my wolves because people thought they could turn them into dogs with
13:17proper training and found out the hard way, doesn't work.
13:20You cannot train a wolf to be a dog.
13:27The debate about whether circuses keeping exotic animals in captivity is right or wrong
13:32is gathering momentum.
13:34And circuses themselves are in a situation where they're having to consider their future
13:39and how their life could change.
13:42Regardless of your position on the subject, circuses are still traveling from town to
13:46town entertaining enthusiastic audiences.
13:50Would that all change if the exotic animals were no longer there?
13:56Jan is the matriarch of the Stardust Circus, which tours around Australia with exotic animals
14:02as part of the show.
14:04Her family has been working with the animals for generations.
14:08Really a family affair, the whole circus.
14:10There are 28 people, I'm counting all the babies, of course.
14:15This circus is family run, and most of them have grown up working with exotic animals.
14:21It's a life they've always known, and they treat their animals as part of their family.
14:27It's a pretty good life, really.
14:29But what's it like to work in a circus with exotic animals?
14:33We have the only two remaining circuses in Australia now with exotic animals, and we
14:38have both.
14:40We have six lions, five monkeys, and that's all in the way of exotics.
14:45The others are pigs, goats, dogs, horses.
14:50These animals have been born and bred in captivity, so they don't know any other life.
14:56So it's not like they've been plucked from the wild and suddenly they're, you know, living
15:00this life.
15:01It's not that at all.
15:03And people don't seem to understand that.
15:05They seem to like the life they've got, I guarantee that.
15:10The world isn't as great as what people make it out to be, either.
15:15In the wild, a lion can live up to 14 years.
15:18But at the circus, the lions can live up to 25 years without the stresses that come from
15:23living in their natural habitat.
15:25Yeah, we treat them like family.
15:27They are our family.
15:31When we move to each place, they come first.
15:33They're set up before anything else.
15:35So they make sure they've got all their comforts of home.
15:39And even to the point, if it's a hot day, the lions have their air conditioners turned
15:42on.
15:43And if not, they lay out in the yard and snooze all day, and they have a bit of a life of
15:47luxury here.
15:48They don't do any hard work of any sort, and they don't have to worry about where their
15:52next meal's coming from.
15:54The circus is regularly inspected by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
16:00to ensure they comply with all the necessary regulations.
16:04A lot of councils have banned the grounds for exotics because the animal liberationists
16:09tell them so many lies about what we do to our animals, which doesn't happen at all.
16:15And they can make up some doozies, believe me, some of the stories they tell them.
16:19Because we'd be in jail if we did half of what they tell them.
16:23Jan has bred several lions over the life of the circus, which has provided an interesting
16:28story to the tax man.
16:29We had cubs living in a caravan, and they had a little bed under the table.
16:34And I'd say to them, Rudder, go to bed.
16:37I had some paperwork on the table, and my husband had the tax return sitting on there.
16:43Well, it fell down under the table, and it got all chewed up by the cubs.
16:49We had to send it in like it was, put it in with a little note that these were chewed
16:52up by lions, you see.
16:55So I was singing after it, and I bet they thought, no, we've heard everything now, every
16:58excuse in the book, this one will take the cake.
17:02Public safety and the safety of the lions is a high priority for the circus.
17:06And there's a double fence around the lions' area for added protection.
17:11We have barricades around and all that, and the lions do get locked away at night.
17:16We have security right around them with the caravans, and our own people are there all
17:19the time, 24 hours a day.
17:24And we very rarely ever have anybody come around that want to get in with the lions.
17:29If they do, they'll probably get eaten.
17:32No, I'm joking.
17:34They'll probably lick them to death.
17:37The lions can be found blazing about in a large, fenced-off grassed area to the rear
17:42of the big top, oblivious to the debate surrounding them.
17:47With social change, circuses are now under intense pressure from animal welfare groups
17:53that say it's cruel to keep animals in captivity, that they shouldn't be kept in small cages.
17:58This is the cages that they can't turn around in.
18:02They're not big enough.
18:04Aren't they, Glen?
18:06Yeah.
18:07They can't turn around in these.
18:11Cramped up in this, ew.
18:14Some of it's funny.
18:15If it wasn't so stupid, it'd be funny, but they come out with some weirdo things.
18:22These lions have lived like this since they were born at the circus.
18:27They have never been in the wild, so this is the only life they know.
18:33They're well looked after and safe from other predators and human encroachment to their
18:37natural habitat.
18:40Matt has worked with the lions since they were cubs, so they have built up an amazing
18:46level of trust.
18:47He spends up to an hour a day with them, training and the occasional cuddle.
18:52You can sense Matt has a special bond with his lions.
18:58His partner, Winona, is well aware of the dangers Matt faces every time he goes into
19:03the ring with the cats.
19:05I feel like he's pretty safe, but there still is a bit of a worry.
19:09They are lions, so you never really know.
19:12Hopefully he's aware at all times of what's going on.
19:16They do love him, but sometimes you just never know with animals.
19:23Matt has total respect for the lions in his care, and he knows when he enters the training
19:27area, there are six lions moving around him.
19:30He knows he can never drop his guard around these powerful predators.
19:35When you're working with lions, especially if there's more than one in a cage, you need
19:38to make sure you know where they all are at all times.
19:40You need to know what they're looking at and where their focus is on.
19:46Their body language is a big thing, so ears twitching and tail twitching, stance, if they're
19:51ready to pounce, if they're not ready to pounce.
19:54Pretty relaxed.
19:55So you've just got to watch their eyes.
19:58Their eyes are a big thing.
19:59Usually you can tell from their eyes what they're thinking.
20:07He's pretty relaxed, just watching Bart over there at the moment.
20:11They're all pretty good.
20:12They all have their own personalities and moods.
20:15Sometimes they're in a good mood and sometimes they're not, and as long as you are paying
20:18attention, it's pretty safe.
20:21Hello boy.
20:24He's beautiful.
20:27There is a lot of trust between the lions and Jan.
20:30Putting your hand inside a lion's cage is something that Jan doesn't recommend.
20:34I wouldn't let any strangers do that.
20:37We know them pretty well and how far you could go with them.
20:41If they were not in a really flash mood, I wouldn't do it, but that's very rare.
20:46But now and again, just the other two bigger males will have a bit of a barney with each
20:50other about who's going to be the boss of the females.
20:54They are beautiful, gentle animals and you would probably trust any animal, no more than
21:02about 95 percent, but they're just like a dog even, who knows if a dog could ever turn.
21:10So far the lions have been relaxed, but there is a change in mood in the training area between
21:15the two of the males and we get a glimpse of what lions are capable of.
21:20There's always that very, very, very slight chance, very slight, but so far they've been really good.
21:30Hey, hey.
21:34Stop it.
21:37Oi, stop it.
21:41Oi.
21:43Oi, stop it.
21:47Hey, hey.
21:48Hey, stop that.
21:50I can't move.
21:52I can't move.
21:54I can't move.
21:57Hey, hey, hey.
22:00Hey, hey, hey, stop it.
22:03Stop it.
22:09I have a little barney at the end of him.
22:11They don't do any jammies to each other.
22:14Just for something to do, I think.
22:17After the dust has settled and the brief altercation is over,
22:21the victor lies next to the female, while the jilted male looks across.
22:26Today, mating season has a winner and a loser.
22:31He's a pretty good-natured lion hawk. He's very calm and relaxed, usually.
22:35Not much scares him, so that's always a good thing.
22:38Some lions are very jumpy, which makes it hard to work with.
22:40Usually, if they're like this, it's fine, but that doesn't mean it's going to stay like that.
22:45Something could get their attention out there, and they could just run to chase that.
22:51Someone could bite him on the bum while I'm playing with him.
22:53So I've got to be ready for everything.
22:55You all right there, buddy? You all right there, bud?
22:58You all right there, mister?
23:00You're a big goofball. You're a big goofball, aren't you?
23:03Yeah, you're a big goofball.
23:06Not everyone agrees that keeping exotic animals in captivity is good for the animals.
23:12But Jan maintains they have a good life and are treated as part of the family.
23:17Well, this is their air conditioning unit.
23:19So on a very hot day, the air conditioning goes on.
23:22So they're, boom, up into there and sprawled out.
23:25They've got little ledges and shelves up in there, too, that they sleep on.
23:28They like to go high.
23:34We hand-raise them. They live in Glenn's caravan for the first six months.
23:38My wife can't handle the smell.
23:40So Glenn gets the first six months, which is waking up at 3 in the morning to bottle feed.
23:46And it's just like having a baby.
23:48And then they start tearing up the furniture.
23:50And the first probably year, we train out here in the yard just to get all the basics down,
23:55like staying on the pedestal and stuff like that.
23:57So we train out here so anybody can come and watch.
24:02Every day, it's just playtime in here.
24:04Here's just mutual ground.
24:05In there, I'm the boss. We do the jobs.
24:08And out here, it's playtime.
24:12It's all reward-based, so they know what to do.
24:14And they're always wanting to do it before I ask them to instead of waiting for their turn.
24:20They really want to do it. It's just getting them to wait is the hard bit.
24:24So they eat out of my hand, usually some nice fresh horse or something.
24:29And if they're full, they don't want it.
24:31And if they're too hungry, they'll take your hand with it.
24:34So you've got to sort of keep them at that stage where they're not hungry, but they're not too full to eat.
24:41You can never underestimate the power of one of the largest felines in the world.
24:45In the wild, they work together to hunt their prey.
24:48Lionesses do most of the hunting for the pride,
24:51each having different roles and working together efficiently to bring down their prey,
24:56using their vice-like jaw to snap the victim's neck and drag it to the ground.
25:05The lions might be the resident stars of the circus,
25:08but the rhesus macaque monkeys are another exotic that looks cute at first sight,
25:13but can attack if they don't know you.
25:17Oh, it's a beautiful boy. It's a beautiful boy.
25:20Yes, you are a beautiful boy.
25:22The two in this cage are the youngest two that we've got.
25:27But they don't take kindly to strangers.
25:29They're not an animal that anyone could get in with or anything.
25:33Don't get too close to them.
25:35They'll grab your glasses off. They're a bit naughty.
25:40Especially to people they don't know, more so.
25:43We have five now. Two of them really love me.
25:45The other three, they like me, but not as much as the two.
25:49I have trained Cleo to do hand balancing, so I work Cleo in the show.
25:54Some might say it's cruel to make animals perform tricks,
25:57but they are never forced to do them.
25:59And if they don't want to do it, they'll soon let their trainer know.
26:04They do bite.
26:06But everyone knows when they're out,
26:08just to make sure they keep away the people who can't handle them.
26:16According to Matt, Rhys' macaque monkeys are charismatic,
26:20but they also have a vicious streak,
26:22so you need to think on your feet when working with them.
26:26So you've just got to sort of work with whatever they're willing to put out.
26:29They have a short attention span also, so you can't work too long with them.
26:32So when you're training, you do a couple of minutes here, a couple of minutes there,
26:35and they'll tell you when they're fed up, and so you move on to something else.
26:38They get bored pretty quick.
26:39This is Cleo. She's an 11-year-old Rhys' macaque.
26:43She's the baby.
26:45The monkeys are good. There's always like an attitude from them,
26:48so it gives you something to deal with.
26:50And they only like a couple of people usually,
26:52so they get attached to a couple of people,
26:54and everybody else is sort of, you know, their game.
26:56Cleo here, she's pretty smart.
26:58She knows how to undo the clutch.
27:00So sometimes in the show, in between tricks, she does just ask to wait.
27:05And sometimes if you're not watching, she'll unclip herself,
27:07go to the table, get a treat, and then head back home, put herself away again.
27:13Millie, the one in here that stays with Cleo, she's got a lot of attitudes.
27:17She's willing to attack anybody really.
27:19She's just full on.
27:22Family more than pets.
27:23Yeah, they're part of the family.
27:25They get all the attention.
27:27The average macaque can grow up to two feet high and weigh up to 15 pounds.
27:32It's a small package, but when aggressive,
27:35nasty bites and the risk of disease are consequences of getting too close.
27:44Well, they're not really wild.
27:45They've been with us their whole life,
27:47but there is still the instinct in them.
27:49Animals don't think like humans.
27:51They're not wild animals.
27:53They've been with us their whole life, but there is still the instinct in them.
27:56Animals don't think like humans.
27:57That's where the people go wrong.
27:59Animals have their own thought processes and their own way of doing things.
28:03So to us, something we would think is nice,
28:05they think is you just letting them do whatever they want.
28:15It's showtime, and the exotics are preparing to make an appearance to their adoring public.
28:20There are preparations that need to happen in the ring to make sure everyone is safe.
28:29Would you please welcome here into the Steak Hill Arena
28:33Star Circus Australian born and bred
28:37The Falling Lions!
28:43Jan and her family enjoy sharing these animals with the public,
28:47but today's circuses are finding themselves going through a transition,
28:51deciding if they will continue including exotic animals as part of the show
28:56or need to bend to the pressures of social change to stop keeping animals in cages.
29:02These could be the last of the lions at this circus.
29:06They will not be breeding any more of them,
29:08so once these unique animals have retired,
29:11it is unlikely there will be any bred lions thrilling the audience.
29:18Time will tell as to how circuses with exotic animals will evolve under the Big Top in the years to come.
29:29Located in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California,
29:33the small city of Big Bear Lake is a popular holiday destination.
29:38The region draws thousands of tourists,
29:41and its picturesque surroundings have been used as locations for many Hollywood classics,
29:46including Daniel Boone, Gone with the Wind, and even Disney's Old Yeller.
29:52But Big Bear Lake is also known as the location of a much more shocking filming project.
30:01The tranquil mountains of Big Bear are a world away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
30:07They're also home to the well-known Hollywood animal trainer and stuntman, Randy Miller.
30:12Randy's company, Predators in Action, specializes in location and studio-trained exotic animals.
30:20Yeah, I mean, I definitely built Predators in Action with no fear.
30:26We still do push the envelope, but back in the day, we really pushed the envelope.
30:31And I mean in every way.
30:33It could be a stunt doing a staged attack,
30:36or even just a simple model shoot with a tiger crawling on a girl that the cat's never seen before.
30:44We did things back then we probably wouldn't do today.
31:07Drawn to animals from a young age, Randy's family was in the seltzer business,
31:12and during the 80s, he helped turn the family business into a $100 million a year company.
31:18He lived an extravagant lifestyle and used his successful business fortune
31:22to indulge his childhood dream of owning big cats, bears, and other exotic animals.
31:29Back in the day, I had great resources to, you know,
31:34accommodate these types of animals and just to get the permits and permission to have them.
31:41Basically have them with me wherever I go.
31:44And that's really what I did.
31:48We built a house in the Hollywood Hills with a three-story glass cage.
31:53It was designed, you know, for big exotic animals.
31:57I didn't have any animals live there full-time.
31:59I had a place out in the desert right there.
32:01I kept all my animals, and I used to bring them in to visit while I was in Hollywood
32:07just so I could always have my animals around.
32:11When the family business went bankrupt, Randy was forced to find another way
32:15to both earn a living and keep his dangerous pets.
32:19He turned his eccentric hobby into a career
32:22and began supplying big cats, grizzly bears, and wolves
32:26for big-budget Hollywood movies and high-rating TV shows.
32:35His signature stunt was a staged attack,
32:38where his animals staged realistic but harmless attacks.
32:42He created a unique and potentially life-threatening product.
32:50My staged attack was not taught.
32:55Nobody teaches you that.
32:57It was developed back in those days, like in that house with that glass cage.
33:02I used to rustle my animals and play with them.
33:05I mean, the reason I used to rustle and play with my animals
33:08was because of the joy I got out of it and the fun it was.
33:13But the animals bond so much stronger when you have that kind of interaction.
33:19They just do.
33:20I mean, the key to an animal's heart is to play and have fun.
33:24In those lions and tigers, bears, they love to rustle and play.
33:28So I think most of us rustle and play with younger animals.
33:32As they get older, it becomes much more dangerous.
33:34My whole staged attack developed out of playing with these animals
33:39as they matured and just learning how to control it.
33:50Stunt Academy Award
33:57Years of high-risk training with ferocious carnivores
34:00yielded the ultimate Hollywood payoff
34:03when Miller won a Stunt Academy Award
34:06for his role as Russell Crowe's stunt double
34:08during the tiger attack scenes in the blockbuster movie Gladiator.
34:13Once I focused on doing film work with these animals
34:17and I really focused on training them to be in movies,
34:22that's what we were training for was that scene, not even knowing it.
34:27But I mean, I would say our whole career put us there.
34:31That tiger was raised its whole life
34:33to play out all that action you see in that scene.
34:36You know, the lunging, the jumping, the snarling, and that staged attack.
34:43I got bit on that show.
34:46There were a lot of staged attack scenes
34:49and it required a lot of takes over and over.
34:53Attacks from the back, attacks from the front.
34:56While filming one of those attack scenes,
34:59Tara, the tiger I was using,
35:02ended up grabbing the wardrobe, which was leather.
35:07So she grabbed it and, you know, she got possessive over it is what happened.
35:13And she ended up biting, she tried to take it from me
35:16and she bit through it and put a hole in my arm.
35:20So at that time they cut and said,
35:24hey, we got it, done.
35:27Went, undressed, got out of wardrobe.
35:30They bandaged up my arm and then a PA comes in and says,
35:34hey, the main camera broke.
35:37We don't know when the film actually broke
35:39so we got to go out and refilm all that.
35:42Like the special effects camera.
35:44They got me back out there, they put a steel plate over the wound
35:48and we started doing it again.
35:50And the only reason I was able to continue doing that attack
35:52after getting bit pretty bad was I understood why she bit me.
35:57You know, she wasn't really biting me.
35:59She didn't go after me out of anger.
36:02She went after the wardrobe and got possessive over it.
36:04Between 1990 and 2011,
36:07there were over 300 incidents involving captive big cats in the U.S.
36:1220 people were killed.
36:14Over the same time, captive bears killed 6 and injured 61.
36:19Working alongside predators is never 100% safe for the humans involved.
36:26American Humane is responsible for making sure that the work is safe for the animals.
36:31Our job is really just to make sure it's done well.
36:34Here, our primary mission is to oversee, basically police,
36:39the care, the safety, the humane treatment of the animals while they're on set.
36:43The others want to debate whether it's philosophically okay to use these animals.
36:48So when I'm asked, you know, should these animals be used,
36:52look, we could sit here for 3 hours, 4 hours and probably not arrive to a decent answer.
36:57But when I tell you, look, my job is to make sure that the animals that are participating,
37:02that are being used in these environments are cared for properly,
37:06that is really our job and our mission.
37:09Big cats, grizzly bears and wolves are popular movie stars,
37:14and they're all capable of removing human limbs in seconds.
37:18Even a monkey can cause serious lacerations and injury.
37:23Strict safety protocols are always in place,
37:26but when dealing with unpredictable natural predators,
37:29safety measures aren't always 100% effective.
37:32You know, on the good sets, in my experience,
37:35on the controlled film sets that hire the right people who care for their animals,
37:41who have had the time, put in the time to train them properly
37:46and go through all the preventative measures,
37:49in instances like that, I think it's very safe.
37:51I think it's very controlled and safe.
37:53Now, as it often is, it comes down to hiring the right people, right?
37:58Getting the right team around you.
37:59Because if you get someone who doesn't have the experience, you're going to be in trouble.
38:02One thing with my line of work, we have developed one of the best safety protocols there is.
38:09I mean, you need a fast plan if something goes wrong.
38:14And we all learned, even with that, the ultimate price can get paid, you know?
38:22These animals are capable of taking somebody's life in a matter of seconds.
38:27So my position, knowing that, anybody handling these animals,
38:32not just owning these animals, but working around these animals,
38:36should have the education and experience to participate in stopping or helping save somebody's life
38:49if there's an accident or an attack taking place.
38:54Many exotic pet owners raise their animals from babies,
38:58building a strong bond and creating a sense of trust.
39:01It can be easy to forget that such majestic and affectionate creatures can also be ruthless killers.
39:09There could be this false sense of security there where you feel,
39:12where you believe it's safer than it really is.
39:15Fire department emergency, how can I help you?
39:17Hi, I'm with the transfer. She's at Onyx Summit.
39:20I'm with the transfer. She's at Onyx Summit off of Rainbow Lane.
39:23Hold on, ma'am. She's at Onyx Summit off of Rainbow Lane.
39:28There's a bear. We think it's an animal attack.
39:31Yes, a bear attack.
39:33Until you've experienced, you know, what can happen, how fast things can change,
39:40you don't really have a clue, you know?
39:44And unfortunately, it takes a tragic, you know, accident to really experience what I'm talking about.
39:54A bear attack.
39:56He's bleeding heavily from his neck. We're trying to get him into the car.
39:58We need someone here immediately.
40:00And, you know, you do this long enough.
40:03You know, I know people that have been doing this for generations,
40:07and you talk to guys that have been doing this for a long time, you know,
40:10we've all experienced something.
40:13In 2008, Randy's cousin, Stefan Miller, was fatally wounded
40:17while shooting a promotional video at Randy's Big Bear property.
40:22Stevie's co-star and killer was a 700-pound, 7 1⁄2-foot grizzly bear named Rocky.
40:29The attack was swift and completely unexpected.
40:33We weren't ready for what happened.
40:36That's how fast it is.
40:39That's how fast it can happen.
40:45I mean, if you actually time it, once it started, it was like 3 1⁄2 seconds.
40:51It all happened really fast.
40:54So we stopped it, and actually Stevie appeared to be okay.
40:59We later learned it was a fatal bite, one single bite.
41:04Five-year-old Rocky had been trained to wrestle humans
41:07and was best known for his appearance as Dewey the Killer Bear in the 2008 film Semi-Pro.
41:15Stevie wanted to wrestle Rocky.
41:17You know, he had experience in the past.
41:20Rocky was a great candidate for wrestling somebody that, you know, wasn't doing it all the time.
41:27The authorities deemed it an accident based on the injuries.
41:32They could tell by the injuries what type of attack or bite took place.
41:38They ruled it a single bite in Rocky's case.
41:42Although that single bite left a profound scar on Randy,
41:46incredibly, he still lives with and cares for Rocky the Bear.
41:50A lot of people love animals and say they love animals,
41:53but some people, like myself, love them so much they have to be with them.
41:58And I think that's the difference, you know.
42:01It's easy for somebody to criticize what we do, but they may not have that same desire.
42:08I know from experience I have that desire.
42:11That's more important to me than anything else,
42:14keeping my animals, caring for my animals, my animals' welfare.
42:21I mean, that's what got me into what I do, you know, it really is.
42:24It started out as a hobby and it turned into a profession.
42:29You hear about an animal that attacks somebody that had never, you know,
42:33had an incident in the past until that moment, and that was the moment with Rocky.
42:39Working so closely with these types of animals,
42:42owners develop a close relationship with an animal that, in the wild, would see them as prey.
42:48Perhaps surprisingly, American Humane's Quan Stewart
42:52sees that bond as beneficial for the animals, too.
42:56This gets into a very big ethical debate, you know, should these exotics be in film?
43:01And, you know, if you have the right people with the right expertise,
43:06it can provide the right long-term care for these animals, yes, I think it's okay.
43:11A lot of these animals are domesticated at a very young age.
43:14They're used to human contact. They enjoy human contact.
43:18I mean, there's a reward there, you know,
43:21with a creature that could take your life in a matter of seconds, you know?
43:26Maybe part of that starts, you know, from the adrenaline rush you get with it,
43:32but there's a lot more to it than that. There really is.
43:36You know, these animals do show affection.
43:40And exotic cats, I've always said, are the most affectionate creatures on Earth.
43:45And they are.
43:47They will sit with you for hours showing affection.
43:50I mean, they're moody, and that's what makes them dangerous.
43:54It's kind of like a dog, you know, where they're very friendly and fun.
43:58And it usually takes a while before you see their instincts come out,
44:04but eventually they will.
44:06And all these animals get possessive,
44:09and it might be something you didn't see until that moment.
44:14And when they get like that, it doesn't matter how much they love you.
44:18They'll kill you over anything.
44:21It's just in their instincts. It's just in their DNA.
44:26Today, Randy remains close to his collection of unusual and dangerous pets.
44:32Seven big cats and several bears, including Rocky.
44:37I can tell you this.
44:40If you put somebody near one of these animals,
44:43there is a chance something could go wrong.
44:46There is.
45:06[♪ music playing ♪