CLEVELAND, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- An employee of a controversial wild animal showman in Ohio died a day after being mauled by a bear he had tended for six years.
Brent Kandra, 24, was attacked Thursday as he played with the bear, named Cherokee, and fed it chocolate, The (Cleveland0 Plain Dealer reported.
His employer, Sam Mazzola, who saw the attack, talked about it on "Good Morning America."
"The particular bear was his favorite bear. It was one that he basically raised," Mazzola said. "Every time he was around him, that was the first bear he ran up to and said hi to, and I mean they knew each other very well."
Mazzola, who lives in Lorain County, has been keeping bears at least since 1986. In the past, he offered the public the chance to wrestle his animals.
While his state permits are in order, the U.S. Agriculture Department pulled his federal license to exhibit exotic animals in 2008. He was given a probationary sentence after pleading guilty in September to exhibiting animals without a license, The Plain Dealer said.
