Woman Killed by Bear in Montana Was 'Pulled' from Her Tent While Sleeping
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Officials have released more details about a woman who was killed Tuesday morning in a grizzly bear attack.
Identified as Leah Davis Lokan, the 65-year-old bicyclist from Chico, California, had stopped in Ovando, a small Montana town, while on a long-distance cycling trip, according to the Associated Press.
The bear, believed by officials to be approximately 400 lbs., was first seen in the town around 3 a.m. local time near the post office, "where the victim was sleeping in a tent," Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park said in a Wednesday news release. She was joined on the trip by two additional people, who were sleeping in a tent adjacent to hers.
"The bear initially woke the campers but then ran away," FWP noted, adding that "the three campers removed food from their tents, secured it, and went back to bed."
Around 15 minutes later, the bear was seen on video at a nearby local business, before returning to the camping area.
"At about 3:30 a.m. the two people in the tent adjacent to the victim were awakened by sounds of the attack. They exited the tent and sprayed the bear with bear spray," officials wrote, adding that during the attack, "the bear pulled the victim" from her tent.
RELATED: Bicyclist Killed in Grizzly Bear Attack While Camping in Montana
The bear, who also killed several chickens during the night, has not been seen since the attack.
"At this point, our best chance for catching this bear will be culvert traps set in the area near the chicken coop where the bear killed and ate several chickens," said regional FWP supervisor Randy Arnold.
Wildlife officials plan on killing the bear once the animal is found, FWP Montana Department spokesperson Greg Lemon previously told The Independent Record.
"This isn't normal bear behavior, and it's the kind we want to address right away," Lemon said. "Most of the time when we have grizzly-human encounters that result in injury, most of the time the bear is doing normal bear stuff — protecting food resources, protecting cubs or a surprise encounter. This doesn't really apply in this situation, where somebody was camping at night."
Officials will be able to confirm the identity of the bear using DNA collected from the scene of the attack.
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Lokan, a registered nurse, was accompanied on the trip by her sister and a friend, pal Mary Flowers told the AP.
"She was talking about her summer plans — this wonderful wild adventure, riding her bike on, I don't know, a 400-mile trip or something," Flowers said. "A woman in her 60s, and she's doing this kind of stuff — she had a passion for life that was out of the ordinary."
