A tragic story out of Montana, as a California woman was pulled from her tent in the middle of the night and killed by a grizzly bear.
According to NBC News 5 Chicago, the victims name was Leah Davis Lokan. The woman was 65-years-old and from Chico, California. She was camping near the town of Ovado, Montana, for a long distance biking trip when the attack took place.
It was the bears second visit to the same campsite that night. The campers were awaken by a roughly 400-pound female bear at 3 AM. They promptly removed all the food from their tents, secured it in a safe location, and went back to sleep.
At about 4:15 AM, a 911 call from the campsite was made as the sounds of the attack woke up other campers. Onlookers were able to deploy bear spray and drive the bear out of camp and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks official soon began searching began searching for the bear via helicopter. Unfortunately the bear is yet to be located.
If the bear is located, it is expected to be euthanized.
Authorities are now attempting to trap the bear near a local chicken coop it also raided the night of the attack. They secured DNA samples from the scene of the attack and will be able to match that evidence with any bear they trap.
There have been several startling stories of run-ins with grizzlies gone bad this year and dangerous conflicts with grizzlies are becoming more prevalent in recent years.
This most recent attack took place on the edge of the Bob Marshall wilderness, where there have been 3 fatal grizzly attacks over the last 20 years. Further south, in the area surrounding Yellowstone National Park, there have been 8 fatal grizzly attacks over the past two decades, including a backcountry fishing guide who was killed by a grizzly back in April.
40-year-old Carl Mock was hospitalized after being attacked by a bear near Bakers Hole Campground. He reportedly sustained sever scalp and facial trauma and ultimately succumbed to a stroke from a result of his injuries.
State officials were able to shoot the bear shortly after the attack, but the damage was already done.
Over this past holiday weekend, a grizzly bear cub raided a campsite near Mt. Wilson and attempted to attack a man, who sustained minor injuries.
