A 417lb grizzly bear dragged a California woman out of her tent and killed her near Ovando, Montana, last summer in a “predatory attack”, wildlife authorities reported.
Officials who shot the bear several days later determined that food in and around the victim’s tent probably contributed to the attack.
Leah Davis Lokan, 65, and her sister were on a bicycle trip with a friend when they arrived in Ovando on 5 July 2021. Lokan decided to camp behind a museum, next to two people they met during the multi-day ride, identified as Kim and Joe Cole.
At about 3.08am local time on 6 July 2021, according to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee report, a bear was exploring the area. Lokan realized what was happening and cried: “Bear, bear”, waking the Coles. The two left their tent and made noise.
Joe Cole carried bear spray but did not use it. Lokan – who told her companions: “The bear huffed at my head” – moved food out of her tent and into a nearby building.
The Coles asked Lokan if she wanted to stay in a hotel but she said she wanted to stay in her tent. Lokan took a can of bear spray and all returned to bed.
Around 4.05am, Joe Cole woke again when he realized a bear was attacking Lokan. Cole shouted: “Bear, bear” and yelled a “roaring-like voice”, using bear spray as he came out of his tent. Kim Cole started blowing a whistle. The bear was on the other side of Lokan’s setup, “pounding up and down” on her and the tent.
“The bear made eye contact with Joe, then averted its head as they approached closer, turned, and left,” the report said. “The back of the tent was still standing but as they approached, they could see that Ms Lokan and tent had been dragged by the bear approximately 8ft to 10ft and Ms Lokan was half out of the tent and sleeping bag” and appeared to be dead.
First responders tried to resuscitate Lokan but found “no obvious signs of life”.
Lokan suffered “severe lacerations to her head, neck, shoulders and back”, the report said. However, “the bear had not fed upon the victim”.
The bear broke into a nearby chicken coop. Authorities then tracked the bear for several days, during which he attacked another coop, to which he returned around 12am on 9 July.
Wildlife agents fatally shot a “large male grizzly bear as it was actively destroying” the coop. The agents tucked the bear’s paws and head in pillowcases, wrapped the body in a “large tarp” and took it for examination, including DNA analysis to see if the animal was responsible for Lokan’s death.
The bear was then taken to Custom Bird Works Taxidermy in Missoula, Montana, “where the hide and skull were salvaged”, the report said, adding: “The carcass was taken to a … composting facility later the same day.”
The report concluded: “This unfortunate incident appears to have been a predatory attack by a habituated or food-conditioned bear.”
The National Parks Service describes food-conditioned bears as “those that have sought and obtained non-natural foods, destroyed property or displayed aggressive non-defensive behavior towards humans”.
The report stated that “predatory attacks are rare, and we do not know exactly how, why, or when the predatory instinct occurred”.
Officials said “food and toiletries inside and near the tent as well as food scent left behind from 4 July picnic celebrations prior to the attack were likely contributing factors” to the attack on Lokan.
