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Grizzly bear returns, kills woman after she scared him off an hour earlier
By FOX 26 Digital and Terrian SpursPublished July 21, 2022 3:22PMFOX 26 Houston
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FILE: Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), Ursidae, Glacier National Park, Montana, United States of America. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)
OVANDO, Mont. - The odds of being attacked by a bear are one in nearly two million, according to experts, so it took many by surprise when a 65-year-old woman scared off a bear in Montana, only for it to return and kill her.

Leah Davis Lokan from California was killed by a 417-pound grizzly bear in her sleep on July 6 while camping in Ovando, Montana, according to a report from the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC).

Lokan was on a multiple-day cycling trip with her sister and a friend when they stopped in Ovando for the night. She decided to sleep outside in a tent alone on the campground while a couple from Texas she met on the trip, Joe and Kim Cole, slept in their own tent not far from her.
At around 3 a.m., the couple heard Lokan yell out, "bear, bear," from her tent. The three made a lot of noise and screamed at the bear until it left.

"The bear huffed at my head," Lokan told the Coles.

Lokan moved the snack food and lentils she had inside her tent to a nearby building to stop the bear from returning. She also brought a can of bear spray back to the tent.

The couple said they asked Lokan if she wanted to sleep in the hotel where her sister was for the night, but she declined and told them she wanted to sleep in the tent.
An hour later, Joe Cole woke up to a noise and realized Lokan was being attacked, yet she had not screamed. He ran out of the tent with bear spray and yelled at the animal while Kim Cole followed him, blowing her whistle.

In the committee report, Joe Cole said he saw the bear "pouncing up and down" on Lokan’s tent, but it stopped when it saw him approaching. He said the bear looked him in the eye, then turned and left the camping area.

The couple found Lokan and her tent were both dragged almost 10 feet away, and she wasn't moving. They ran to the nearby inn to get help.

Paramedics attempted CPR and first aid when they arrived, but Lokan had died from the attack. The autopsy in IGBC's report said that Lokan's death was instant as she suffered from a broken neck and a severed spinal cord.

The Powell County Sheriff closed the town for overnight camping and worked with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials to track local bear activity until the bear that killed Lokan was found, according to the report.

The committee said they assume the bear might've been looking for food but can't be sure. Further investigation found a saddlebag on Lokan's bike 10 feet away from her tent had food inside it, such as beef jerky, granola bars, and a baked potato.

According to
https://www.the-sun.com/news/5826825/camper-mauled-grizzly-bear-terrifying-reason-montana/ she had dried blueberries inside the tent. Between that and the saddlebags it was her carelessness that got her killed.

ALL food should be stored in a Bear Canister AWAY from your sleeping arrangements!

Dear Grizz:

Thank you for doing your part to keep Montana free from Californians.

Extra points for being a bicyclist as well.

Sad deal for all concerned, a Darwin Award, so late in life.

ROTFLMAO!!!!

Did the bear eat the bicycle also?

Crap as a 17 year old in the summer of 69, me and 15 other guys hiked close to 250 miles or so in a couple of weeks, in Glacier and Waterton National Parks.... we were east coast kids in a Scout Troop.... and had enough sense to not sleep anywhere near your food...

and yeah, we had the presence of Grizzleys on the trip.... even having to scare a few off... and kept a bear guard up in camp, taking a hour turn
of staying up watch.. like a fire guard in the Army....

but then I learned back then also... you couldn't tell a Californian Much.... they knew everything.. and better than anyone else did...

May Ms Lokan Rest in Peace... sorry for her family's loss....

She should have stayed in California, in her suburban home. and cycled around her neighborhood...

Old female bicyclist.....proly smelled like salmon and granola after a fair ride.

As a cyclist (not as serious of one as you, Mr. Paul), I don't want to see harm come to other cyclists. Unless they're from California. Then I'll help the bear.

I hate to say it but honestly but when I read that she was visiting Montana from California I felt a little less bad.

Remsen,

I know you are a good guy... so this ain't aimed at you...

but here in Oregon, I've been living here for 27 years now...

I'm from Virginia, outside of Metro DC... but left there after High School in 1970...

But since 1995, when I moved here.... I've asked many people why they hate Californians so much.....

The usual answer was " well why do you think I left there in 198XXX for?"

My mental response to that statement, I never said out loud, was " Oh, I should have known! YOU were the last good one across the state line... everyone after you is an A Hole!"....

Found the Biggest haters of Californians, in Oregon.. is EX California residents....

Guess that is becoming the case in Montana also...and Idaho, etc...

but I say I know you are a good guy... because you are probably one of the ones who moved to Montana, and NOT asking why everything isn't just like it is in California... just without ALL the people....

have a good day my friend....

Wow, took them a year to figure out a griz got her.
Impressive.

That's awful, but entirely predictable. She broke the universal #1 rule when camping in bear country.

I take no offense, I am of a similar mind actually. There are plenty of psycho CA natives, but from what I saw the real problem was the person who came to CA from some place like Kansas or Missouri for "freedom" so they could fly their freak flags. They're the ones who ruined CA, with some help from what used to be the lunatic fringe of CA natives (they're now the majority).

I probably hate Californians more than most Montanans do, cause I lived with the vermin who destroyed a once great state. I know what they're capable of and what they have planned.

Lol, good one

laffin’
Phugin A

Absolutely no food or anything even exhibiting the aroma of food in one's tent. That includes all obvious food items as well as gum, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and even a used toothbrush.

Might be a lean year in that vicinity, and lots of critters are out looking for grub.

This occurred July 6, 2021.

I am not afraid of bears, I am only afraid of being attacked by bears. For reference.