Leah Davis Lokan was killed by a grizzly bear while camping in Ovanto, Montana, last year. A new report found that Lokan, 65, spooked the bear an hour before returning and killing it. Lokan declined an offer to stay at a hotel after chasing the bear away, the report said.
A woman was killed during a camping trip in Montana after a bear she had spooked earlier returned and attacked her in her sleep, according to a new report by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Commission. Leah Davis Lokan, a 65-year-old bicyclist and retired nurse from California, was killed by the bear while camping in Ovando, Montana, in the early hours of July 6, 2021. The 26-page report, which was published earlier this month, found that Lokan had chased the bear away an hour before returning and killing it in its tent. Lokan, who was traveling with her sister, was sleeping alone in her tent behind a museum when the attack happened, the report said. Her sister was staying at a nearby hotel, but Lokan was staying next door to a couple named Joe and Kim Cole, the report said. At about 3 a.m., Lokan was awakened by a 417-pound bear “tightening up” on her head outside her tent, the report said. She quickly alerted Coles, who helped her scare off the bear by making loud noises, the report said. Lokan immediately carried food from her tent and armed herself with a can of bear spray, according to the report. The Coles then asked her if she wanted to stay in a hotel room for the night, but she declined the offer and went back to sleep, the report said. Image of a grizzly bear in Ovando, Montana, on July 6, 2021. Interagency Grizzly Bear Commission An hour later, around 4 a.m., the couple woke up again to a noise that sounded like Lokan was being attacked, although she didn’t make any noise at that point, the report said. Jay Cole told officials he saw the dark shape of the bear “beating up and down” at Lokan and her tent as it tried to scare her off, according to the report. The bear snapped Lokan’s neck and severed her spine, killing her instantly, according to the autopsy report. The bear did not attack anyone else and ran away, the report said. The story continues DNA tests confirmed that the same grizzly bear also raided a chicken coop a few hours after the attack. The same bear, which was four to seven years old, was killed by officials several days later, the report said. The report also included an image captured by a remote camera showing a bear that officials believe is the one involved in the attack. Read the original article on Insider
