The 250-pound (113-kilogram) statue was placed in the hallway Tuesday.

Mr Schwarzenegger's spokesman, Aaron McLear, says the Republican governor spotted the bear while strolling by an art gallery in Aspen, Colorado, on a recent fundraising trip.

He says Mr Schwarzenegger thought schoolchildren would get a kick out of having their picture taken with it.

The artist, Steven Bennett of Greensboro, North Carolina, declined to comment on the selling price. Mr McLear says the governor bought the statue with his own money.

The grizzly bear is the official state animal, though it has been extinct in California since 1922. -- AP