400-Pound Grizzly Bear Pulls Woman From Her Tent, Kills Her

Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) roaring, close up

Photo: Getty Images

A California woman was killed in her sleep by a grizzly bear while camping in Montana. Leah Davis Lokan, 65, was sleeping in her tent when the 400-pound bear attacked her.

Campers in another tent heard the commotion and used bear spray to scare the animal away.

Officials said the bear stumbled onto the campsite around 3 a.m. and woke up the campers. The bear didn't bother them at the time, and the campers stored all of their food as a precaution. At some point during the night, the bear also broke into a chicken coop and ate several chickens.

Around 3:30 a.m., the bear returned to the campsite and mauled Lokan in her tent.

Authorities with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks said that wardens are trying to locate the bear and will have to put it down. They have set up traps in the area and hope to catch it before it causes more damage or kills somebody else.

"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 Randy Arnold, FWP regional supervisor in Missoula.

Fatal bear attacks are extremely rare in the northern Rocky Mountains. In the past 20 years, there have been just two other maulings that resulted in death.


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