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Bicyclist Killed in Grizzly Bear Attack While Camping in Montana Gabrielle Chung Tue, July 6, 2021, 9:20 PM
A bicyclist camping in western Montana is dead after a grizzly bear attack, according to officials.
The fatal incident occurred on Tuesday around 4:14 a.m. in Ovando, a small town located approximately 74 miles away from the state's capital, according to a news release from Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles.
Roselles confirms to PEOPLE that bear spray was deployed during the attack and the bear fled the area before first responders arrived.
Once at the scene, authorities found a woman suffering from injuries of an apparent bear attack, but attempts to treat her wounds were unsuccessful, according to Roselles.
"The Powell County Sheriff's Office along with the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks officers processed the scene and spent several hours searching for the bear involved in the attack, utilizing resources on the ground and in the air," Roselles says in the release. "Search efforts will continue over the next couple days and traps have ben set in the area in case the bear does return."
"Campsites in Ovando have been closed until Sunday and we encourage anyone in the area to be cautious and aware that as of now, the bear has not been located," he adds.
The victim, whose identity has not been released by authorities, was part of long-distance cycling group camping in the area, local newspaper The Independent Record reported.
Though grizzly bears are common in the area, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Park spokesperson Greg Lemon told the outlet that unprovoked bear attacks are not.
"This isn't normal bear behavior, and it's the kind we want to address right away," Lemon said. "Most of the time when we have grizzly-human encounters that result in injury, most of the time the bear is doing normal bear stuff — protecting food resources, protecting cubs or a surprise encounter. This doesn't really apply in this situation, where somebody was camping at night."
The bear was captured on surveillance camera footage from a local business on Monday and had raided a chicken coop prior to the attack, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Park said in a news release.
According to Roselles, the bear visited the campsite several times and left, but later returned and attacked the camper, the Associated Press reported.
In the wake of the attack, wildlife officials plan on killing the bear once the animal is found, Lemon told The Independent Record.
"We have a bear roaming around town, that had already hit a chicken coop, so our response is different than if it was normal bear behavior," he said.
At the same time, the tree hugers like to see them so lets not make a bunch of tags available to "at the very least" give them a reason to have just a little fear of humans. (sarcasm inserted)
JL's Link
Montana grizzly bear attack victim identified. Pulled from tent during fatal attack David Murray, Great Falls Tribune
The victim of a fatal grizzly bear attack in western Montana has been identified as 65-year-old Leah Davis Lokan of Chico California. The attack within the confines of the small agricultural town of Ovando has traumatized friends and community members alike.
On Wednesday, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in cooperation with the Powell County Sheriff's Office expanded upon the horrifying details of the attack.
"The bear initially woke the campers but then ran away," Wednesday's FWP news release states. "The three campers removed food from their tents, secured it, and went back to bed."
But the bear was only deterred briefly. A few hours later it returned, and its image was captured by a surveillance camera less than a block away from the attack site.
At some point during the night, the bear also got into a chicken coop in town, killing and eating several chickens. The bear's image was recorded by a video camera at a business less than a block from the campsite just 15 minutes before the attack.
"At about 3:30 a.m. the two people in the tent adjacent to the victim were awakened by sounds of the attack," the FWP news release states. "They exited the tent and sprayed the bear with bear spray. It has not been seen since."
"The bear pulled the victim from the tent during the fatal attack," the news release continues."
Since Tuesday, Montana wildlife and law enforcement officials have been scouring the area around Ovando, trying to locate the bear responsible for the fatal attack with little success.
“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.
"The area that we're dealing with in Ovando presents challenges, both terrain-wise and for brush cover," Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles said. "There's frankly a lot of places where a bear could hide. Fish, Wildlife and Parks as well as the Powell County Sheriff's Office dedicated people last night and again this morning to continue looking for the bear."
"At this time we still have not been able to locate the bear," he added
A specialized search and rescue team with the private company "Two Bear Air" has been brought in from Kalispell to help with the search. Roselles said Two Bear Air is employing "flare technology" in an effort to find the grizzly. Forensic analysis collected at the attack site is also being utilized.
"It's my understanding that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in conjunction with the medical examiner is being very diligent in collecting DNA samples," Roselles said. "Those samples will be analyzed to help identify the particular bear that was involved."
The specific site of the attack has not been released; however, the fact that no campsites outside of the immediate area surrounding Ovando have been closed seems to indicate it occurred within the immediate town limits.
"All routes were reopened yesterday afternoon," Roselles said of area road closures. "The only campground closures that I have put into effect were in the immediate area of Ovando; basically the ones in the townsite. We've notified campers in the outlying areas of the presence of a problem bear, but I have put no other closures in place."
The sheriff said the emotional toll of the attack has been a concern from the beginning.
"Upon my official notification of this incident ... I did have the Powell County Sheriff's Office's unofficial chaplain travel with me. We utilized him not only for support of the family members, but as well as for that of the first responders and the community as well. He was invaluable with our search yesterday."
Roselles said he's received inquires from as many as 30 media organizations, both local, national and international regarding the bear attack.
"Obviously this is a tragic event, but the interest in this event is by far the most that I've had to contend with of anything," he said. "We are a small organization within Montana. My department has a total of five officers, so when it comes to having the luxuries of a Public Information Officer ... those duties default to me exclusively. I try and fill in the gaps with the media as best I can, but we're small and I do it all."
Well, Apex, at least. But that’s about the size of it…
What could POSSIBLY go wrong???
Problem Is (IMO) that all of the assumptions about “natural“ or a “normal“ better behavior are based on behavior of animals which have been hunted by humans for millennia, or (at the very least) repelled with lethal force whenever they got too close to the people. 100 years ago, they were treated as vermin.
But in far less than one human lifetime, they have gone from being persecuted at every opportunity to having total immunity. Truly NORMAL Bear Behavior is to eat/kill anything that can’t kick your ass.
The bears will return to their supposedly “normal” behavior when their every interaction with a human ends with them scared and stinging. Until them, we’re just conditioning them to NOT associate us with any kind of threat; if they have no good and specific reason to avoid us…. they won’t.
The golf course I play on has grizzly on it almost daily. When you NEVER play golf without the 10mm in the cart or on my belt, is a sad state of affairs! This golf course is over 60 miles from any semblance of a mountain range!
Until a VIP or a child is killed, the tree hugging bunny thumping judge in Missoula will keep them on the ESA!
But the bear was only deterred briefly. A few hours later it returned, and its image was captured by a surveillance camera less than a block away from the attack site.
That was their fatal mistake............................................having food in their tent! VERY SAD! : (
They need to relearn that 'humans = *danger*'.
When did that stuff start?