LOS ANGELES: For animal trainers on film sets, the job can be wild. Getting snakes on a plane takes a bit of heat or light, but cajoling a bear to perform for the camera can require buckets of fried chicken.

Casey the bear, seen in Back to the Future and Evan Almighty had that diva-like demand written into his contract. KFC was his favourite, and it had to be fresh.

Sometimes, on remote locations, it would take a 90-minute drive to get to the nearest fast food outpost, his trainer said.

The story is among those in the book Animal Stars, a behind-the-scenes look at how trainers get species from badgers to bears to safely do what dazzles.

Set for release on September 25, the book is co-written by the head of the American Humane Association, whose entertainment unit is the industry’s only sanctioned animal welfare programme.

The book celebrates the unit’s 75th anniversary this year. The group will come on set for a fee to ensure animal safety. If all goes well, it allows the familiar tagline “No animals were harmed in the making of this film” to roll in movie credits.

But for another animal welfare group, the efforts are not enough.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it opposes the use of live animals in film and television work.

“A behaviourist would be very helpful, and somebody who can enforce the law should be there, too,” Kathy Guillermo, a PETA senior vice president, said about film sets.

The book features quotes from actors and directors like Quentin Tarantino, who says animals need an advocate.

The Django Unchained director said in the book: “You can do amazing, eye-popping things. You just need the time to train the animals and get them ready so they don’t get hurt.”

Trainers like Nicholas Toth also offer their insights.

Toth divulged that besides Casey’s KFC fix, the bear refused to leave his trailer if it rained.

It’s a bit easier for Jules Sylvester, a snake wrangler and herpetologist for nearly 45 years whose 18-foot Burmese python was the star of Snakes on a Plane.

He also provided 450 other snakes.

Snakes can’t exactly be trained, he says, so if you want them to move in a certain direction, you work with light, height and heat.

Published in Dawn, September 18th , 2014