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A new report released by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee provides new details about a deadly grizzly bear attack that occurred last year in Montana. Leah Davis Lokan, 65, was dragged from her tent by the 417-pound bear just after 4 a.m.
According to the report, Lokan encountered the bear about an hour earlier and managed to scare it away by making loud noises. Lokan then removed all of the food from her tent and grabbed a can of bear spray in case she needed it.
About an hour later, the bear returned and attacked her inside her tent. Another couple that was camping nearby tried to scare the massive bear away, but it was too late. The bear broke Lokan's neck and severed her spine before running back into the woods.
The bear was located raiding a chicken coop several days later and killed by wildlife officials.
The report noted that while Lokan took most of her food out of her tent, she still had some dried blueberries in her toiletry bag. The committee concluded that the bear attack was predatory but could not determine what caused the bear to attack Lokan inside her tent.
"Not all bears exhibiting food-conditioned behavior exhibit predatory behavior. But for some unknown reason, a predatory response was triggered in this bear," the report explained. "While foraging under the cover of darkness in Ovando, perhaps due to a simple movement made by the sleeping victim, or a certain sound made by the victim, the bear reacted and ended up taking the life of Ms. Lokan."