- A woman was killed last year in Montana in a rare grizzly bear attack after first scaring it away.
- A grizzly management specialist said the bear likely returned to the camp because there was food.
- Properly securing food is a reliable way to decrease the likelihood of drawing in a bear.
A woman in Montana was killed last year after a grizzly bear displayed rare predatory behavior. But the best way to avoid any negative encounter with a bear remains the same: Secure your food.
Leah Davis Lokan, a 65-year-old cyclist from California, was killed in July 2021 while camping in Ovando, Montana, located east of Missoula. Lokan and a couple who was camping next to her were woken up in the middle of the night by a bear near their tents.
After making loud noises and scaring away the bear, Lokan removed food she had in her tent, including packaged snack foods and dried lentils, and put it inside a nearby building before returning to her tent with a can of bear spray. About an hour later, the bear returned and mauled Lokan to death.
"It's not normal behavior for a grizzly bear to predate on someone like that, so it was kind of freaky," Jamie Jonkel, a grizzly bear management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, told Insider. Jonkel was one of the authors of the report on the attack compiled by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.
Bear attacks in general are rare, but the report found the 400 lb. grizzly had displayed extremely abnormal "predatory" behavior. Why it became predatory was not clear, but the report said the bear had likely been seeking out human food — an increasingly common bear behavior.
"Sadly, in the lower 48 states and even Alaska and Canada, it is not that uncommon for our bears to be checking out communities for goodies," Jonkel said. "Probably every bear in the United States, except for the most extreme remote areas, are coming into contact with humans and human-related treats on a daily basis."
The result is that bears can become food-conditioned, meaning they become accustomed to actively seeking out human food, even intentionally entering communities, often at night, to look for loose food and garbage.
The report said there may have been smells and scraps in the downtown Ovando area leftover from July 4 celebrations, but noted that the town is generally vigilant at securing items that would attract bears and has bear-resistant garbage cans in town.
Lokan, however, had a substantial amount of food and scents at her campsite. In addition to the snack foods and dried lentils that she removed after the first encounter, inside her tent she also had old dried blueberry bags that she had repurposed to store toiletries. The bags still had the scent of berries, according to the report.
She also had her bike leaned up against a building about 10 feet from her tent. Inside the saddlebags of her bike, she had beef jerky, crackers, seeds, trail mix, granola bars, electrolyte drink powder and tablets, and a baked potato wrapped in foil.
"This food was not moved and remained close to her tent. The presence of food, initially in the tent and in close proximity, is likely why the bear returned to the tents a second time," the report said.
Jonkel said at this point, with how many bears have been exposed to human food, that "every bear in the country will check out a campsite," which is why securing you food away from your tent is so important.
Guidelines for how to best secure food can depend on the park and its bears, so it's best to check on recommendations for the area you're in.
In bear country, campsites will often have metal bear boxes or lockers, where you should store all of your food and anything with a scent, which can include toiletries or medicines. Storing food inside your car could also be an option in some locations, but it's best to check with the area's guidelines first.
If you are backcountry camping, or in Lokan's case cycling, or a metal bear box is unavailable, you can use a bear-canister, or a hard-sided bear-resistant container. Again, all food or scented items should be placed in the canister. The National Park Service recommends storing the container on flat, level ground at least 100 feet away from your campsite. Bear bags that you hang from a tree may also be an option in some areas.
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee maintains a list of bear-resistant products that have to meet specific criteria and pass a live bear test or technical evaluation.
In addition to proper storage, don't pour bacon grease out on the ground near your campsite, or any similar actions that will cause scents to linger.
Jonkel said if a bear does visit your campsite, it's best to relocate into your car for the night or into a building, if possible, rather than waiting around to risk it coming back.