Bear pulled camper from her tent and killed her in western Montana

Posted 7/13/21

Montana wildlife officials shot and killed a grizzly Friday that they believe fatally attacked a cyclist last week.

In the unusual July 6 attack, the grizzly pulled the woman from her tent in …

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Bear pulled camper from her tent and killed her in western Montana

Posted

Montana wildlife officials shot and killed a grizzly Friday that they believe fatally attacked a cyclist last week.

In the unusual July 6 attack, the grizzly pulled the woman from her tent in Ovando, Montana. 

The woman — identified as Leah Davis Lokan, 65, of Chico, California — was staying overnight in Ovando while on a cycling trip.

The bear entered town early on the morning of July 6 and approached an area near the post office at about 3 a.m., where Lokan was sleeping in a tent, according to a news release from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Two companions with Lokan were in a tent nearby.

Initially, the bear woke the campers, but ran away. The three campers removed food from their tents and secured it, then went back to bed.

At some point during the night, the bear got into a chicken coop, killing and eating several chickens.

Around 3:15 a.m., the bear was filmed by a video camera at a business less than a block away from Lokan’s campsite. Soon after, the two campers in the adjacent tent were awakened by sounds of the attack. They got up and sprayed the grizzly with bear spray.

Wildlife specialists later set a trap near a chicken coop and were monitoring it when a bear approached early Friday morning. Officials shot and killed the grizzly at the site, less than 2 miles from Ovando.

“Given the proximity to Tuesday’s attack, the evidence found at the scenes and the fact another chicken coop was raided, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials believe this is the same bear,” the agency said in a Friday news release, “but confirming DNA analysis will take a few days.”

USDA Wildlife Services specialists assisted at the request of state officials, anticipating the bear would return to the coop. They used night vision technology to aid in shooting the bear.

Grizzlies are common in the Blackfoot Valley where Ovando is located, the agency said. The town is about 75 miles northwest of Helena, and is a popular destination for cyclists.

A retired nurse, Lokan was described as an avid cyclist and “true outdoorswoman” by a friend.

“She was a free spirit first and foremost. She always had a smile on her face. She always gave great hugs when you saw her,” Mike Castaldo, president of the Chico Cycling Club, told the Chico Enterprise-Record. “She was a good woman. She’s going to be missed.”

While it’s rare for grizzlies to attack campers in their tents, similar incidents have occurred in the Greater Yellowstone region.

In July 2010, an adult female grizzly accompanied by her three cubs attacked campers in three different tents at the Soda Butte Campground near Cooke City, Montana. The bear killed a man who was camping by himself, and injured two other people at separate campsites. The adult bear was captured and killed, while the three yearlings were removed from the wild and placed in a zoo.

(Tessa Baker contributed reporting.)

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