Cyclist killed by grizzly bear

OVANDO - Before dawn Tuesday, July 6, Leah Lokan, a 65-year-old cyclist from Chico, California, was killed by a grizzly bear while camping in Ovando. Friday morning, a grizzly bear suspected of killing Lokan was shot and killed by wildlife officials less than two miles from Ovando.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks details about the attack suggest that the bear entered Ovando early in the morning and went near the Ovando Post Office at about 3 a.m. Tuesday, where the victim was sleeping in a tent. Another couple in her party were sleeping in an adjacent tent. According to Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles, the individuals involved were part of an organized biking event.

The bear initially woke the three campers but then ran away. They removed food from their tents, secured it and went back to bed.

The bear was captured on film by a nearby business video camera at about 3:15 a.m. It then pulled Lokan from her tent during the attack. At around 3:30 a.m., the two other people were awakened by sounds of the attack. They left their tent and sprayed the bear with bear spray. It then left the scene of the attack. 

According to the press release, FWP bear experts believe the bear was an approximately 400-pound male based on behavior and footprints. 

FWP’s Wildlife Human Attack Response Team responded Tuesday to the fatal attack by searching for the suspected bear via air and on the ground. The team included game wardens, biologists and wildlife conflict specialists. Aerial resources brought in included Two Bear Air Rescue from Kalispell that used infrared technology in an attempt to locate the bear. The aerial search was unsuccessful.

FWP shifted their efforts to monitoring the area and placed a culvert trap near the chicken coop that was raided Monday night along with four others in and around Ovando. A second chicken coop raid occurred in the area Wednesday night. The raid was considered “very similar in nature” to another coop that was raided the night of the fatal attack.

FWP specialists set a trap at the second one on Thursday. USDA Wildlife Services specialists were monitoring the trap Thursday night when the bear approached and was shot. They used night vision technology to aid in shooting the bear.

“Given the proximity to Tuesday’s attack, the evidence found at the scenes and the fact another chicken coop was raided, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials believe this is the same bear,” FWP said in a press release.

FWP spokesman Greg Lemon said the bear they euthanized did not have a collar or tag on it so he does not believe the bear had previously come into contact with the organization.

FWP has not yet fully conducted an analysis of the bear’s corpse. They discovered an inch long cut on its shoulder that had bled a little bit. Other than that Lemon said the bear did not appear malnourished. He said when FWP looked at the bear it would be hard to classify it as anything but a “healthy male grizzly.”

FWP will compare the slain bear’s DNA to samples collected at the original scene to confirm that this is the same bear. This DNA analysis will take a few days to complete. In the meantime, FWP staff will keep at least one trap set near the first chicken coop on the outskirts of Ovando.

Lemon advises residents and visitors in the area to keep attractants such as food, dog food or bird feeders secure. 

“If [attractants are] put away, that’s a big step,” he said. “And then if you’re camping, keep a clean camp. Keep those sorts of food items or attractants in that vehicle, trailer or somewhere secure. And then if you’re tenting, [keep] as far away from where you’re preparing your food as possible. … Those are always good ideas when you’re living [or camping] in … any bear country.”

Roselles said people recreating in Montana need to be aware of the presence of predators.

“Be aware of them and take the obvious precautions experts recommend,” he said.

Lemon said tragedies like this are rare. 

“Usually grizzly bears like to avoid people and like to avoid communities,” he said. “And it’s rare for us to have a circumstance where someone is attacked in the middle of the night while camping.”

The last fatal grizzly bear attack in the area occurred in 2001 in the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area, less than seven air miles from Ovando. Fifty-year-old elk hunter Timothy Hilston, from Great Falls, Montana, was killed in an open-forest area the morning of Oct. 30 by a grizzly bear while he was field dressing an elk he killed.

The Powell County Sheriff’s office rescinded their order closing all camping and sleeping in bicycle shelters in Ovando. Roselles said arrangements have been made with Blackfoot Community Bible Church to house cyclists and campers traveling through the area who feel uncomfortable sleeping outside overnight. The community has also installed a couple of bear boxes in the area to store attractants with more coming in, courtesy of the Blackfoot Challenge.

Roselles said, “The residents of Ovando have been very proactive about not wanting any campers to have any food outside and they’re asking that everybody secure food in the designated areas and more areas are now available.”

*Update as of July 14: DNA results received Wednesday confirmed the bear killed by wildlife officials last Friday was the same bear who fatally attacked a camper in Ovando early on the morning of July 6.

The DNA samples from the bear, saliva sample at the scene of the attack and samples from two chicken coops that were raided in the area all match up.

Montana is bear country and recreationists can be bear aware by following some simple guidelines:

• Carry bear spray and be prepared to use it

• Avoid surprise encounters by traveling in groups, making noise and being aware of surroundings, particularly in areas with limited sight lines and recent bear sign (tracks, scat and turned over rocks and logs)

• Keeping a clean camp by securing attractants, keeping food securely stored

• Find a list of bear-resistant containers on the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee's website http://www.IGBCOnline.org

For more information on bear aware guidelines, go online to FWP’s Bear Aware webpage.

 

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