A 65-year-old woman was dragged and killed by a 400-pound grizzly bear while she was sleeping.
Leah Davis Lokan from California was on a bicycling trip when the bear pulled her out of a tent at a campsite in Montana.
According to Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP), Lokan was attacked on the animal’s second visit to the campsite.
The bear first arrived at about 3 am and awakened the campers who secured their food and went back to sleep.
The sheriff’s office received a 911 call at about 4:15 am after people in a tent near Lokan’s were awakened by the bear, said Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles.
Fellow campers used bear spray at the animal but it left Lokan with severe injuries.
A helicopter ambulance and first responders arrived at the scene and tried their best to save the woman’s life.
Randy Arnold, the regional supervisor of MFWP in Missoula, said: “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.”
A specialized search and rescue team from ‘Two Bear Air’ is helping with the search.
MFWP spokesman Greg Lemon said the bear will be killed once it is found.
Tiffanie Zavarelli, Ovandoo saloon owner, said the incident was the first fatal bear attack she knew of in the area.
“Everybody’s pretty shaken up right now,” she said, as per CBS News. “The people from Montana, we know how to be “bear aware.” But anything can happen.”
Lokan’s friend Mary Flowers said: “She loved these kind of adventures. A woman in her 60s, and she’s dong this kind of stuff — she had a passion for life that was out of the ordinary.”
Chico Cycling Club president Mike Castaldo also said: “It’s unbelievable. You always hear about stuff like that but it’s never that close to home.”
He described Lokan as a ‘free spirit’ who ‘always had a smile on her face.’
“She was a good woman. She’s going to be missed,” he added.
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